Naruto: Altered History
by Geor-sama
Summary: Meet Uzumaki Naruto, the number one prankster ninja. He lives in Konoha...and has a dark secert so large that NOBODY knows, not even Naruto.
1. Chapter 0: The Brave

Naruto: **Altered History**  
Volume One: It All Begins!  
Chapter 0:  
_-The Brave-_  
By Geor-sama

* * *

_There once appeared a Nine-tailed Demon Fox. One swing of it's mighty tail could crumble mountains and create Tsunamis. To fight the Demon the people assembled the Shinobi but only one could stand against the Demon..._

* * *

The air was dry, heavy almost, with the unnatural heat. It was a heat that had baked the ground solid and almost turned it to glass, it never faded. It felt as if it was attempting to consume the landscape with a relentless hunger. In the distance, the heated nighttime air was filled with hoarse shouts.

They seemed to grow closer for a moment and then faded away leaving only a silent void with nothing but the unbearable heat.

This was the world that the Yondaime awoke to, his body stiff and sore. He could taste the copper of his own blood and his mind could only struggle in an attempt of rational thought. He wasn't finished yet, this thought was galvanized by the feel of the bundle in his arms moving. He had to get up, he had to...

Biting his lip to keep from screaming at the pain he was placing on his already taxed body he rose shakily to his feet. It had been so painful, almost murder to use that jutsu...but he couldn't think about that. He held the still moving but silent bundle in his arm tightly forcing his way upright.

Stumbling he almost collapsed as one of his legs tried to give out, but his fanatically devotion to protect the village allowed him to force his way through the pain. He scanned the world around him, swaying, and wondered if the village would ever recover.

He could see the shattered walls of the village, nobody was moving near them. Fear would be rampant, now was his chance...to protect the village. He stumbled forward, struggling to maintain his balance and keep from dropping the precious bundle in his arms. He almost collapsed but managed to reach the hole where he fell forward, thankfully managing to brace himself up with one hand.

He didn't have long. He had to hurry but his Chakra...it was almost gone, he could feel The God of Death's cold fingers digging deeper into his soul. A hacking cough racked his body, followed by a spray of dark blood. Could he do it? No he had to...if anyone found him now, with this baby...

He couldn't let that happen.

He had to do something. He couldn't let them know and...he could feel several ninja approaching at high speed, not for him but the fallen shinobi around him. They would find him if he stayed much longer, but he honestly didn't know how much chakra he had left. He could die at any moment and he had to ensure he was finished before then.

His only chance was to gamble...gamble his life, the baby in his arms life and Konoha's future. Yondaime didn't see any other option however, he would have to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu. Closing his eyes he concentrated, struggling to separate the hundreds of different locations for the one he needed. Finding it he started molding all of his remaining chakra, praying that this would work.

One minute he was propped up against the shattered wall, the next he was sprawling across the shattered pavement in front of the darkened hospital. Suddenly the baby started crying, making an unholy racket. The Yondaime coughed, the cold fingers of Shinigami-sama tightening around his throat. Placing his palm against the ground he leveraged himself upwards, blood splattering the ground as he stumbled back to his feet.

Forcing his way through the cracked glass doors he stumbled into the dark hospital, his eyes darting all around disorientated. Stumbling he started toward a set of damaged stairs, almost collapsing. He managed to keep his balance and reached the nearly empty hallway almost collapsing once more.

He couldn't fall yet, just a little bit more, a little bit more...his mind was already crumbling but he couldn't stop, he had something important to do. Forcing the door open he stumbled into the dark room filled with crying babies. Finally, he could...he could...

Stumbling to an empty crib he managed to release the child, ignoring the blood streaks on the boys young face. The child would be safe now...safe...

"Yondaime-Sama!"

At that shout his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees, staring up at the terrified looking nurse. She seemed so far away, but she was getting closer, reaching out for him...but Yondaime pulled away. "P-please, help me..."

"W-what? The Kyubi?"

"D-dead..." coughing he fell forward onto his hands, breath becoming ragged. "P-please...help..."

The nurse nodded cautiously, kneeling in front of him. "W-what..."

"J-just..."

* * *

_One brave Shinobi was able to seal up the demon, but he lost his life. _

_That Shinobi was called the Yondaime Hokage. _


	2. Chapter 1: Graduation

_Mountain Oinari..._

The road was well cared for, with no tracks marking the tale-tell signs of carts. The road itself that winded its way up and over the mountain was only wide enough for two people to pass with comfort. On top of the mountain of course things flattened out -it's top and been sliced clean off during the Kyubi's attack- and in the center was a large crater where it was rumored the Yondaime had first assaulted The Beast.

The merchant currently traveling the road was chubby, with more than three jowls and dressed in the finest clothes that money could buy. It was safe to say that he was indeed wealthy -he owned several shops in Konoha and other various large villages inside the Country of Fire- and he gave generously to charities, yet this was not to say that he was a very nice person.

This particular merchant was very greedy and anything he donated he made back by raising his prices.

Using a silk scarf to wipe the sweat away from his face and neck. His mistress had made it quiet clear that if he did not lose at least one chin she would dump him and then speak to his wife. So of course, the merchant had taken to walking up Mountain Oinari -one of the most secure roads in the country- to lose the required weight.

Reaching the top of the mountain, he turned back to stare out over the way he had come. He could see the vast sea of trees that marked the boundaries of the Hidden Village of Konoha, to the south he could faintly make out a series of flatlands that rolled off endlessly flanked to the west with distant hills. To the east, standing out over the forest and showing the true location of the most powerful military power on the continent was the infamous Hokage Mountain.

Gathering his nicely tailored cloak tighter, he turned and started walking once more. His goal today was to see the exact center of the crater on Mount Oinari; maybe he could make some money selling dirt or rocks from the fabled location. Reaching the crest of the crater, he paused, his mouth going dry as he stared in disbelief at what he saw.

There, covered in dirt was what looked like a rather large -about the size of a man- white ball.

The gears in the merchants head suddenly started turning rapidly. He knew the legends involving kitsune; his grandmother had been very fond of telling them, among others, to him. According to the legend, kitsune would place power into a ball and then either hide it or use it as a child would. He wet his lips, slipping and sliding down the slopping crater edges, mind racing.

The Kyubi had been a kitsune, an immensely powerful one. A nine-tails, rarer than any other. If this -for what other kitsune would have such a large ball- did belong to the Kyubi then...it might still contain a portion of its power sealed inside. He could sell it to the Hokage, or...Rock and Lightening would pay ANYTHING to get their hands on it. With this, it would be possible to surpass the Country of Fire in power.

Reaching the ball, he carefully moved closer and reached out, hand trembling as he thought about the amount of money he was now facing. He was sadly disappointed however, when the ball disappeared in a puff of smoke and the ground gave out from under him. Landing in a heap, he was disorientated and confused, at least until he heard a familiar laughter.

Looking up at the edge of the pit he had fallen into he stared coldly at a blond haired child, dressed in orange, who was laughing at him. "HOW DARE YOU! I'LL HAVE YOU'RE HEAD FOR THIS!"

Crouching down Naruto rested his arms on his knees, his face looking disgusted. "Oi, I think all those kids you cheated yesterday should have your head."

The merchant paused, considering how to get out of this. Apparently, Naruto had been present yesterday when he had sold cheaply made items to a group of orphans at outrageous prices. The boy just did not understand business, yet the merchant also knew that trying to explain it would be pointless. So instead he would have to lie, he was good at lying.

"I...yes, maybe you're right." Nodding the man looked as pitiful as he could. "I'm sorry, of course you're right. I should have never...I just let my greed get the best of me. I'll refund their money as soon as I get back..." Offering his hand, he smiled disarmingly. "Help me out?"

"Bah." Naruto muttered dismissively, lowering his head as he hesitantly held his hand out to the man. Reaching out to grasp it, he was suddenly jolted when Naruto slapped his hand away and grinned mischievously. "Yeah right idiot." Naruto laughed, eyes closing as he made a thumb's down sign. "You think I'm THAT stupid?"

"HEY! IF YOU DON'T HELP ME GET OUT, THEN I'LL TELL THE HOKAGE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" The merchant felt his anger fading however as the blonds eyes narrowed and he stood up. Unable to look away he watched as the boy unzipped his pants, revealing his intention. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"You pissed on those orphans so...I'm going to piss on you."

"Hey, don't...no..." The merchant begged, hands coming up in a prayer position and lowering his head.

"Here it comes..." Naruto gloated, groaning in comfort.

"GYAAAAAA!"

* * *

Naruto:  
**Altered History**  
Chapter 1:  
_-Graduation-_  
By Geor-sama

* * *

"Tomorrow is the Ninja Academy Graduation Exam." Said the tall man with a scar on the bridge of his nose. Staring at the bleary-eyed students the man nodded, crossing his arms across his green vest. "Today I think it would be best to review a few things that might come up on the test." 

There was a notable upswing in attention and the man sighed. "First off, who can name the five great Shinobi nations?" He was not surprised to see half the hands go up, especially the pink haired girl that sat in the second row next to a black haired boy. "Yes Sakura, go head."

Standing the girl practically beamed, glancing at the boy beside her. "Ahem, The Five great Shinobi nations are Fire, Wind, Stone, Lightening and Water. Each country is ruled by a Daimyo, who decides laws and various polices."

"The respective Hidden Villages are controlled by Kage's who are equal to the Daimyo. The system has been likened to having one Country inside of another."

"Right and why are there Kages and ninja?" The man asked glancing at the timid hand raised in the far back. "Yes Hinata?"

"Anou...umm...T-the existence of a Shi-shinobi Village means military power." The shy, white eyed girl offered from her seat.

"Correct." Shifting his gaze to the others, he paused, noticing the lack of orange in the students and frowned. "The body is divided into three sections, what are there names and importance?"

Iruka scanned the room the picked on the boy who was staring out of the window at the clouds. "Shikamaru?"

The boy sighed, shifting his gaze toward him before answering apathetically. "High, Middle and Low. Each section contains vital areas, which we should be aggressive in attacking and ending the fight as soon as possible."

"What does the High section include and what damage can be inflicted?"

"This is troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, looking back out the window. "The High section contains the top of the head which if struck forcefully because trauma to the cranial cavity, a severe strike can cause death. The High section also contains thirteen other targets."

"Examples?"

Groaning Shikamaru closed his eyes. "The temples where the bones of the skull are weak and an artery and large nerve lie close to the skin, if severed it compresses the brain and kills. The eyes where a jab can result in either blurred vision, gouged out or if the finger penetrates the thin bone behind the eye and into the brain death. There are also the ears, which if struck hard enough can rupture an eardrum."

Nodding when the pineapple headed boy finished he shifted his gaze to the boy next to Sakura. "What else Sasuke?"

"The chin, which if hit hard enough can cause paralysis, a mild concussion, or unconsciousness. The back of the ears and base of skull which if hit moderately hard can cause unconsciousness while a powerful blow can cause a concussion or death."

"There is also the throat, where you can crush the wind pipe or the side of the neck where a sharp blow can cause unconsciousness. For maximum effect, the blow should be focused below and slightly in front of the ear."

"What about the Middle and Low Sections?" Iruka questioned, glancing at a boy dressed in a large high-collared white coat. "Shino?"

"The Solar plexus, which if hit hard enough can snap the thin bone and push it into the heart. The kidneys, knees and the vein on the back of the ankle." The boy answered without looking away from his study of the insect on his finger.

"Very good. What about the nine steps?" Iruka said directing his gaze to the blond girl, dressed in purple, who had been wistfully gazing at the boy next to Sakura. "Ino?"

The girl jerked, her attention returning to the front of the classroom. Then blushing amidst that laughter answered, "Stealthy Step, Cross Step, Night walking, Step, Serpent Step, Dragon Step, Rushing Step, Entering Pivot, Side Step, Lost Track Pivot."

"When ascending a stairway, keep as close as possible to the wall and climb using the Cross Step. On stone steps, this will aid in concealing your position; on wooden stairs, this will prevent creaking since the stairs are most secure nearest the wall and are thus less likely to shift as weight is applied."

Iruka opened his mouth to ask his next question when the door opened and the all too familiar face of Uchiha Yoshiro, one of the oldest and most respected officers in Konoha's Police Force stepped into the room. Yoshiro remained silent since Iruka knew exactly what this meant. Turning, the scarred Chunin sighed nodded an amused looking Mizuki.

The cyan haired man stepped to the front of the room, as Iruka hurried up the steps and then nodding faintly at Yoshiro disappeared out the door.

* * *

Careful brushwork, total concentration. Dignity and respect. Silence. 

That was the old man's surroundings as he carefully inked a letter to the great Daimyō of the Fire Country. All around him were the trappings of his station, a raised platform draped with a black carpet. It was rare for him to have the time for this, usually his letters were rushed and hurried but today...even the troublemakers were isolated in the academy. Nobody would skip class this close to the final examination.

He would have the entire day to himself, to concentrate on his brushwork.

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Stifling a curse, he stared at the now smudged kanji.

Count to ten, count to ten and do not kill them...they are only messengers.

Calm once more he turned to see what emergency had brought them to him. He just barely managed to repress a groan upon seeing the two familiar uniforms of Konoha's Police and a tightly bound and gagged boy named Naruto.

Sandaime took a deep breath on his pipe exhaling slowly. "What did he do this time?"

"He forced Matsushima-san into a hole on top of mount Oniari and then proceeded to urinate on him." Uchiha Tekka said, scowling.

"We would have handed him off to ANBU like normal but, he's almost thirteen Hokage-sama." Uchiha Inabi said seriously. "We wanted to ensure that he understood what that meant."

"I understand and I am sure Naruto knows what it means." Sandaime said, turning his gaze on the boy letting his displeasure to shine through. "Thank you for bringing him to me."

"No problem Hokage-sama." Tekka said, bowing as he turned to leave. His partner offered a bow shortly afterwards and followed, leaving the old man and young criminal alone. Taking another puff on his pipe Sandaime considered the irate looking boy before he closed his eyes. It would not belong before Iruka showed up to collect his wayward charge...again.

"This is getting tiring Naruto..." Sandaime said after a moment opening his eyes to stare at the boy. "Honestly, why do you insist on causing so much trouble?" Naruto muttered something through his gag and Sandaime sighed closing his eyes once more, wondering what was taking Iruka so long.

Soon enough the door to his office opened and a harried looking Chunin, with a scar across his nose entered the room. Iruka paused, seeing the tied up Naruto and then sighed looking up to met the Hokage's gaze. "Sandaime Hokage-sama. I apologize for this."

"Ah, Iruka. I was expecting you a bit sooner." Sandaime said kindly, before lowering his gaze to an angry looking Naruto. "He's a handful isn't he?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Iruka said with a sheepish grin before reaching down to grab the boy and yank him upright. "What the hell are you doing during class time!"

Shaking his head the Hokage couldn't help but take an extra long puff on his pipe before letting out several smoke rings listening to Naruto's angry -though muffled- retorts. Sometimes -like now- he wondered how he ever let the Nidaime ever talk him into taking this job.

Oh yea...the girls...

* * *

Iruka sighed, watching as Naruto used the shovel to fill in the hole he had so painstakingly dug. Well Naruto would think it was painstaking, Iruka was sure that everyone else would see it as appalling. Iruka was torn on the matter, mainly because of the effort these pranks took, if only Naruto would apply himself to his studies as he did with these types of things. 

Then again, since Naruto seemed to think differently than everyone else it was just amazing that the boy could function even semi-normally.

"Naruto...why do you keep doing this sort of thing?" Iruka asked finally and not for the first time. He was not expecting an answer; he had never gotten one yet. Naruto would just ignore him and keep cleaning up whatever it was he had done.

"That bastard cheated a bunch of orphans!" Naruto said hotly, and Iruka sighed.

So that was why, with all of Naruto's enthusiasm about being Hokage and a ninja, he had skipped a review session. It was not a widely thought about fact but Iruka understood why this would bother Naruto so much. Without parents Naruto had been forced to raise himself and he had not exactly been treated kindly either.

That was the reason Iruka had even noticed him, because it was like looking back in time at himself after his own parents had died.

Only Naruto had never had parents...or anyone else.

Iruka spotted the shift in body weight and crossed his arms. "I'm not letting you go home until you clean all of it."

Naruto tensed then looked up at him, eyes closed and face defiant. Then grunting the blond started shoveling dirt once more, mumbling something.

Iruka could not help but sigh and lean back, remembering his own parents. He could vividly remember the emptiness and sense of abandonment each time he went home when he had been twelve. That was a mistake, anytime he did that he always felt like letting Naruto go but he could not do that. The boy needed to learn that there were consequences for his actions...

"Naruto..."

"What now?" Naruto complained, eyes squinting up at him in distrust.

Scratching his nose Iruka looked thoughtful. "Well uhm...If you clean all of this up I'll buy you some ramen tonight." Looking down, he fought to keep from grinning at the way Naruto's face brightened. It was amazing how easily the boy could be cheered up, Iruka could remember the first time he had ever seen Naruto...and introduced him to the joy that was ramen.

"OK! I'll work really hard! I will!" Naruto cheered as the dirt literally started flying as if a hyperactive dog was at work. "Then you'll have to buy me two bowls!"

"WHAT! I NEVER SAID THAT!" Iruka shouted before chuckling at the way the boy concentrated on the task. Not for the first time, Iruka wished Naruto would concentrate like that during class time. In all honesty, Naruto was not a bad ninja he just never tired.

For a moment he mused using the ramen bribe more often but like always realized that he could just barely afford buying Naruto ramen once in the blue moon; the boy ate ramen like a fish breathed water.

"DONE!" Naruto shouted happily and Iruka jerked in surprise.

That was fast...

Two hours later Iruka was admitting such to Naruto as they both entered their favorite ramen stand. Naruto brushed it off and excitedly hopped onto a stool shouting for pork ramen while Iruka made small talk with Ayame until her father shot them a dark glance.

Iruka patiently waited until they were both served -Ayame served him with a wink and blush- then decided to attempt a serious talk with Naruto who had removed his goggles.

"Naruto..."

The blond in question looked up, making a noise while happily slurping his noodles. "I didn't want to say it...but you've got to stop these pranks. Especially if you want to be Hokage."

"Huh?" Naruto glanced at him, talking around a mouth full of ramen. "Why?"

"You're almost thirteen Naruto, if you fail the exam this time then next year we have to expel you from the academy. That makes you a civilian and then the Police will not give you to ANBU or the Hokage. You'll be put in jail." Iruka explained, not sugar coating it a teensy bit.

"Well I'm going to be Hokage so screw that!" Naruto said happily before he shoveled an inhuman amount of ramen into his mouth.

"Naruto...do you really understand what the Hokage is?"

Choking the ramen noodles in his mouth down Naruto nodded his face equally serious. "A Hokage is the strongest and most respected ninja in the village."

"Then you have to stop the pranks and pass this exam."

"One day I'm going to be Hokage..." Naruto said softly before thrusting his hand, holding a pair of chopsticks, at Iruka. "And then I'm going to surpass all the Hokage's! Even the Yondaime! I will pass!"

Iruka opened his mouth to refute that but he saw the way those blue eyes glinted and he just sighed. He just could not take the boy's dream away, no matter how unrealistic it was.

"By the way Sensei...I have a request..." Naruto suddenly said, his voice almost pleading. He even had his hands together as if in prayer. "Can I borrow your leaf forehead protector?" Iruka smirked as best he could with a full mouth, reaching up to adjust the object in question.

"No, no this is for after you graduate. It's the symbol that you've come of age, maybe you'll get one tomorrow."

"STINGY!" Naruto shouted and Iruka laughed.

"So that's why you removed your goggles."

"SECONDS!"

"HUH!"

* * *

"Now for the last part of the graduation exam." Iruka said, taking the papers from Mizuki setting them on the desk. Turning back to the class he smiled faintly, "You will do the Bunshin no Jutsu." He shared a brief smile with Mizuki before turning back to the group. "When you're called come to the next room." 

That said both teachers turned, leaving the twenty-three students to anxiously await their fates.

Naruto honestly didn't see the point, if a Bunshin was required then he had no chance of graduating. He'd failed the last two times and each time, that was the techinque required. To make matters worse this would be his last year in the acadmey, like Iruka said last night.

He forcibly stopped thinking about that and started concentrating on how he could possibly pass this year. He wouldn't have long to figure it out, he knew Iruka-Sensei all to well. Maybe he could use another one of those 'What you see is what you get' scrolls like he had with that merchant bastard. No, they'd find out...or, if he wrote it now and then...no they would know! They always knew when someone tried to cut a corner.

"Yamabe Anzai!" Mizuki, Iruka's assistant, called and a boy got up from among a crowd of grinning friends to disappear into the next room.

Naruto banged his head on the desk, wishing he had some friends to support him. Well ok, he had Kiba and a few others, but they were mostly just running buddies. They didn't really get along all that well unless pranks, food or cloud watching was involved. Even then it felt like he was out of place...

Ack! He didn't hve time to be thinking about that, he had to figure out how to pass.

"Wakai Jo!" Mizuki shouted and another boy from the same group got up and cockily strode into the testing room.

Naruto covered his head with his hand, trying to keep from panicking. It wouldn't be long now, soon he'd have to suffer the torture. Why had he decided to skip yesterday to! He should have reviewed, done something, anything, to prepare! Wait, maybe he could bug that lazy ass Shikamaru and get him to walk him through the basics again!

Lifting his head he turned preparing to do just that when Mizuki's voice rang out once more. "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto didn't move, even though he felt a few curious glances directed at him. "UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Mizuki shouted, a touch of impatience in his tone and this time those curious glances became sneers.

That spurred Naruto to leap to his feet and onto his desk top, placing his hands on his hips. "Oi! I'm coming!" That shouted he leaped over the head of the people in front of him, descending by using the desks instead of the stairs. He almost landed perfectly but sadly his foot slipped out from under him on the last desk and he landed face first on the ground.

"NARUTO!" Iruka suddenly bellowed and the blond in question didn't give his wounded pride a second thought as he scrambled to his feet and amidst the laughter darted into the other room. It was just like he remembered from his previous attempts, there against the far wall was a desk with both Iruka and Mizuki.

On the desk was a row of forehead protectors. The rest of the room was empty except for a chalkboard. Gathering his nerve he cautiously approached the center of the room, praying that this time he could do it; perform a bunshin and pass. Prayer quickly became a declaration that he would succeed and he even silently shouted for his teachers to watch and see.

Bringing his hands together he concentrated, molding his charka with a fierce determination.

He wouldn't fail this time!

Chakra swirling around him he clenched his eyes shut. He could feel the way his chakra moved, slowly at first; sluggish. Then it started speeding up, coursing through him, led perfectly by his will. Naruto urged it on, trying desprately to get it to move faster to take the coesive form that he wanted from it.

He felt the chakra slipping away and he fought to clear his mind, he was Uzumaki Naruto, Future Hokage. He would pass! It was that simple, suddenly his mind was clear and his chakra surged upwards in an unprecidented wave. He felt joy, unabashed joy, it was moving so perfectly!

No...wait, it was growing too rapidly...becoming chaotic...he needed to hurry.

"Bunshin!" There was a loud pop and suddenly his chakra faded, allowing Naruto to relax and open his eyes. Seeing Iruka's look of horror Naruto hestiantly looked to his right to find that yes he had produced a illusion of himself, but that it was one of the most pathetic things he had ever seen.

Naruto had to fight back the tears of disappointment as the illusion disappered with a pop and swirl of smoke. Dimly he prayed that it would be enough, he had after all produced a Bunshin...looking at Iruka, he held his breath waiting the final word.

"Naruto...you fail!"

Something inside him collapsed, some inner prop that had been holding him up. Suddenly he was just some kid, without any skills other than making trouble...he wanted to shout at Iruka. Yell and scream how it wasn't fair that he should fail! That he had created a Bunshin and that he should be allowed to pass!

He didn't want to be a civilan...just another orphean that could be cheated, lied to, sold and traded...killed...

"Iruka-Sensei," Mizuki interceded, his voice tentative. "This is his third time and he DID technically create a clone...we could let him pass..."

Naruto stared at Mizuki with almost slavish gratitude before looking at Iruka who appeared to seriously be considering that argument.

Please, please, please, please, oh PLEASE! Naruto silently beeseched the Kami.

"No Mizuki-Sensei. Everyone else divided into three, Naruto only created on clone and it was pretty useless."

"Iruka-sensei, he was only required to create one...and he did." Mizuki said doggedly.

"Its not the number of clones." Iruka answered, tone even. "Its the quality of the techinque, as it is if he went into the field like this, his Bunshin could get him killed. Or worse, his team."

Naruto met his teachers steady gaze with a glare. He didn't understand...how could Iruka do this to him? Weren't they friends? Didn't Iruka introduce him to the joy that was ramen? Wasn't Iruka the one that had last night been worried about him becoming a civilan?

"I can't let him pass."

Those words echoed in Naruto's mind, as he watched from the swing outside of the academy. He saw the kids laughing and joking as they left the building, to be embraced and praised by parents. Everybody was so happy, nobody even seemed to notice him sitting alone in the shade of the tree on the tired old swing.

How could Iruka-Sensei not pass him? Was it because he really would be a risk on a mission? No, of course not! He just couldn't create an illuision, not his fault if that techiqnue was crappy. Besides, what use would it be in a fight? Huh, you couldn't even hit anybody with it.

Still, Naruto knew Iruka...the man wouldn't fail him knowing what would happen without a good reason...but Naruto knew he would not be a liability! So what possible reason could there be? Did it even matter, he'd failed this test and next year he would be...

For as long as Naruto could remember all he had ever wanted to be was a ninja that everyone respected. Someone that could stop bastards like that merchant or the orphanage workers that used the kids as slave labor. Someone that could stop them from doing what they did...

A Hokage.

His chest hurt from the knoweledge that he had failed and that he would be as ignored as the others, as forgotten. Leaving the swing outside the acadamey he roamed away, exploring the currently empty streets. He tired comforting himself with the knowledge that he was more skilled than non-ninja, that he could keep himself safe and he could still help others.

"Naruto."

Turning Naruto felt surprise registering in him as he stared at the caring face of the cyan haired older man. "Mizuki-Sensei!"

"We should talk...follow me." Mizuki said kindly and then without a word took a running leap onto an awning before rebounding and working his way higher and higher. Naruto quickly followed, working double time to make the same leaps that his sensei had. Eventually they landed on a balcony without a railing, which provided a great view of the village as the sunset.

Sitting down they were silent for several minutes and then Mizuki sat back, his hands supporting him.

"Iruka-Sensei is a serious person. His parents were killed when he was young and he's had to do everything himself."

"Bah!" Naruto crossed his arms. He didn't care why, it only mattered that Iruka failed him.

"He probably sees himself in you." Mizuki continued off handily. Falling silent they both sat there for a moment before Mizuki continued. "Naruto...I'm going to tell you the truth about something. Something you were suppose to never know about."

"What?"

"It has a lot to do with you, why the villagers are so cold toward you and...why Iruka wants you to become strong in the real way before you graduate."

"I need to graduate this year." Naruto mumbled.

"I know, but this is important and afterwards I'll tell you how to graduate this year despite the normal rules." Mizuki confided.

"Really! THANKS!" Naruto shouted, his mind running rampant with various thoughts. They were washed away however when Mizuki-sensei started speaking.

"You know, of course about the Great Demon that attacked us twelve years ago. We lost the Yondaime and many others in that terrible battle. It's the official reason for why we are so militaristic. Yet, Naruto, I don't think it's fair to hide the truth from you anymore." Sighing Mizuki looked down.

"Huh?"

"The truth is, we're really militaristic because of an event that happened several days after the Kyūbi's death. There was another attack on Konoha, this time from within. We're not sure which country it was, but an enemy nation took advantage of the chaos. They launched a toxic jutsu, something ANBU had never seen before or since, inside the hospital."

"It seemed to originate where the nursery was located, but it was powerful enough to kill everyone inside the building. We lost countless wounded ninja, medics and of course all the babies inside..."

Naruto felt his breath catch, wondering about what this had to do with him. Then seeing the way Mizuki-sensei was staring at him he felt his stomach fall.

"All but one. One child, somehow, survived. That's why the villagers treat you so coldly, many had already lost family and now they had lost even more."

"B-but...how did I-?"

"Nobody really knows. For a while the ANBU believed that you were an enemy plant. The villagers themselves believed you were unnatural to have escaped the attack unscathed. Some of the older generations even said that you were born from the Great Demon's hate and spite for the village."

"I...am I a monster?"

"Hardly, although with the trouble you cause in the village you do more to reinforce that idea than anything else." Mizuki answered lightly. "The truth is Naruto, you probably survived due to a fluke. I mean, you lost your entire family to The Beast on the same day you were born. You never had a chance to know them, letting you survive was probably an act of kindness from the gods."

"...I..." Naruto looked down, falling silent for several long minutes before continuing. "So all those glares and that coldness I suffer is because of something I had no control over?"

"Well that...and the fact you have been pulling pranks on some of the most well respected and powerful people in this village since practically the day you were born." Mizuki allowed, sounding amused. Hearing Naruto mutter something about stuck up bastards deserving it Mizuki continued. "I have to know...how'd you create that ball since you can't do a proper henge?"

"Oh! I used one of those 'What you see is what you get' scroll's from back when I first entered the academy this year." Naruto grinned, eyes closing. "I've got three left."

Mizuki laughed. "You really are a clever one."

Naruto smiled, feeling a fondness for the man forming. "So how do I become strong in the real way?"

"It's the same thing that make Iruka so strong." Mizuki said, tone going serious. "He protects you until you are strong enough to show everybody you are not some cursed child. That's why he is strong, he's protecting something precious to him."

"Precious?" Naruto echoed looking at the man.

"Yes. That's when a shinobi truly becomes strong, when they're protecting something precious. To me you are one of my precious students, which by the way, is the reason I'm going to help you graduate today." Mizuki smiled and Naruto couldn't help but smile back.

Inside he was almost bursting with pride now, this was the first time anyone other than Iruka had shown this much interest in him. He listened very carefully as Mizuki told him exactly what he was going to need to do and where to go, noting how Mizuki claimed 'this path to graduation would be much harder than any test he had taken at the academy'.

When Naruto said that didn't matter, he wanted the chance Mizuki smiled just a bit more.

"Good. Now make sure you're at the training area after eight and practice all night. I'm sure you'll graduate this year."

He'd get to graduate! Yes! In your face Iruka!

* * *

"He won't get away with this one! Hokage-sama!" 

Sandaime had to repress the groan of annoyance, these Jōnin were looking far to excited for his liking. He was even willing to put money on the fact that these fools would kill Naruto before even thinking about capturing him. Still he couldn't blame them, this was a very serious matter...yet somehow he didn't quite think that Naruto was behind the thief.

"He is carrying a very dangerous scroll. It was forbidden by the previous Hokage, I don't know if he stole it as a joke or someone tricked him into it..." Sandaime said, his voice just barely raised. "I don't want Naruto dead, I want him brought back so we can find out why he did this. It's been half a day since the scroll was stolen so hurry and find him."

That said he made a majestic sweeping gesture and the gathered ninja took off at high speed, fluttering his robes. Sighing he lowered his arm, wondering what exactly was going on. He'd been out visiting a friend of the family and when he'd come back two Chūnin's were knocked out and they claimed it was Naruto.

How the boy could have gained entrance into the Hokage tower, let alone Sandaime's private library, was baffling.

"Hokage-sama."

Turning Sandaime inclined his head at the silver haired, masked man standing behind him.

"We didn't find a trace of Naruto's chakra...or any signs that he was even here." Kakashi offered, his visible eye narrowing. "But the eye witnesses are telling the truth, according to Ibiki-san...so it appears Naruto is better than we first thought."

"I see..." Sandaime mused, before shaking his head. "Well part of me says it could not have been Naruto, but all the evidence points to him. Which is a shame because I was starting to like him." At Kakashi's silence Sandaime started walking, hands behind his back, aware of Kakashi falling into step behind him.

"So...how are this years ANBU recruits?"

"They're fine...though a majority can barely hold Jōnin title."

"Ahh, I trust you'll be able to handle them."

"Yes, yes." Kakashi answered absently. "I received the cipher yesterday from Wind Country. They're politely reminding us that we agreed to host the coming Chūnin exam."

"Ahh, yes..." Sandaime nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Please inform them that we are happy to host the Chūnin exam provided they understand our laws concerning other military powers inside our walls." Hearing the masked man's muffled giggles Sandaime couldn't suppress his groan of annoyance.

He should have never told Jiraya to write his fantasies down to stay out of trouble.

* * *

I did it. Finally. 

Those were the words running through Naruto's mind as he tried to catch his breath and get his body to stop trembling, he couldn't believe how tired he was. It had taken most of the night since discovering the scroll in the woods, but he had done it. He'd finally learned how to do a Bunshin properly!

Now he could show Iruka-Sensei and then...then...then what? Naruto froze, trying to figure out what to do. Mizuki had never explained how training would let him pass.

The exam was over and he'd have to wait another whole year to even attempt graduating. Which meant he was going to be another year behind in his goal, he was going to have to suffer another year of distrust and talking behind his back.

Besides which, there was no guarantee that Bunshin no Jutsu would be the exam next year.

So what was he...Naruto trailed off sensing the presence of someone else. Looking up he found Iruka-Sensei bent at the waist, hands on his hips and staring at him hard with an awkward grin. "...I've found you."

"Hey I found you, nose bleeder!" Naruto couldn't help but shout while pointing and jumping to his feet.

"IDIOT! I found you!" Iruka shouted back then paused staring at Naruto.

Which sort of made him uncomfortable, thus Naruto reached up and scratched the back of his head smiling to hide his nervousness. Geez, why was Iruka looking at him so oddly? He didn't think there was any reason for it...and for that matter why had Iruka even been looking for him in the first place?

Oh! Could he have been after the scroll? OH SHIT! Iruka was going to think he stole it!

Naruto couldn't help but panic for a moment, scared to death at the prospect of having the thief label added to him. Maybe...Maybe if he could pass it off as a joke and show what he learned.

"Hehe…You found me...I've only learned one skill." Naruto saw the look of incredulity on Iruka's face but he had to keep going.

"You're all beaten up, what were you doing exactly?"

Crap! He wasn't falling for it! "Never mind that, Hey hey! I'm going to try an incredible skill!" Naruto noted the look of surprise on the older man's face and rushed on. "If I do it...Let me graduate!"

He had to act now before Iruka had the chance to think. Impress the man and then he'd forget about the scroll for a moment! Lifting his fingers he concentrated, molding the chakra like he'd learned from the scroll. Only part way through did it occur to him that he might not have enough chakra for this technique...no he had to have enough!

"Naruto."

Naruto froze, his concentration broken looking at Iruka. "Hn?"

"Where did you get the scroll?"

He noticed! Damn it! Naruto gulped, maybe Iruka would believe the truth. Naruto really hoped so...otherwise he'd be in a lot of trouble that he didn't want. "Oh this? I was out here training like Mizuki-Sensei suggested and I found the scroll right where he said it would be. So I opened it and...I thought if I learned one of the techniques you'd let me graduate!"

Naruto registered the shocked look on the man's face a split second before Iruka glanced to the side and slammed a hand into his chest sending Naruto sailing through the air. This was a bit of a surprise, but even Naruto knew the sound that followed next. The sound of kunai slicing through the air.

Opening his eyes as he hit the ground and slid Naruto saw the black metal slamming into Iruka at full speed and pinning him against a tree.

Looking to his left and up he found the familiar form of Mizuki crouching on a tree branch one hand in front of him for balance. Naruto couldn't be sure but he looked like he was smirking,

Mizuki never smirked! "Nice job in finding him..."

Naruto glanced away from the man to stare at Iruka who was struggling to remove the kunai embedded in his green Chūnin vest.

"I see...so that's what's going on..." Iruka muttered, wincing as he removed one of the weapons from his shoulder.

Naruto quickly climbed to his feet, he had to help Iruka. He froze however when Mizuki spoke up once more. "Naruto, give me the scroll!"

That sounded like a command and Naruto knew not to disobey a teacher, within in class or not. But Iruka-sensei needed help and Mizuki seemed to have hurt his friend in the first place. What could he do? Why was this happening, all he wanted to do was graduate!

"I don't understand...What's going on here! Hey!" Naruto shouted looking back and forth. He wanted someone to tell him the truth.

Instead Iruka lunged forward, forcibly removing a kunai from his chest. "Naruto! Don't give him the scroll even if I die!" Iruka stooped slightly glaring up at Mizuki who was standing up. "That is a dangerous scroll that has forbidden Ninjutsu sealed within it! Mizuki used you to cover his tracks after he stole it!"

Naruto felt something racing up his back, it was cold for a moment and then suddenly it turned hot. His entire body was reacting on its own, preparing to fight without conscious effort. If Iruka-Sensei was telling the truth...that bastard Mizuki was going to pay! He had hurt Iruka and betrayed the old man Hokage!

Mizuki however was looking entirely too amused. "Naruto...if you attack me I will kill you."

"BASTARD! WHY! WHY DID YOU DO THIS!" Naruto shouted angrily, willing his body to stay still for a moment. Logically he knew there was no way he could beat a Chūnin in a straight up fight, but his body was trying to argue the point.

"Why? Because I can! Because I want to get stronger and that scroll was written by the Yondaime, the strongest Hokage ever!" Mizuki shouted, reaching back for his large throwing star chuckling, "Now I'm going to kill you both. Why? Because I can!" Mizuki's face twisted into an ugly visage, showing just how deranged his mind had become. Then muscles straining the cyan haired school teacher hurled the giant weapon at the boy.

Naruto started to move a split second to late, his mind clearing from his emotions to realize the danger he was in...and then his world was obscured by green and black as he was pushed painfully against the ground. Twisting around he stared up at the bloodied mouth and unfocused eyes of Iruka who was crouching over him.

Naruto could think of only one thing to ask. "W-why?"

Iruka was silent for several long minutes and then he spoke his voice hoarse. "I'm sorry, if I had done a better job...you...r-run." Naruto stared at the man he'd come to view as half-brother and half-father. Part of him understood what Iruka meant, understood the feelings those eyes full of tears showed.

The other part couldn't.

He turned scrambling to his feet as he took off, the scroll slapping against his back, ignoring Mizuki's shout. He had to get away, had to think! Why, why had everything turned out like this! All Naruto had ever wanted, was to be a ninja... and now he was running away like a scared little kid.

"Why are you running! Just die, it's not like anybody will mourn!" Mizuki shouted from behind him.

Naruto continued to run through a forest blurred with his tears.

* * *

He always thought the same thing, that on the surface the village always looked so peaceful. The Sandaime was not that naive however, he had been alive for far to long to believe that. He had seen the closing of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage's lives, he'd seen the rise and death of even his own successor against the terrible Demon Fox. 

In the distance he could hear the sound of various Jōnin moving quietly, some shouting that they needed to find and kill Naruto. Yes, things were happening again and it appeared he might have to loose yet another precious leaf of Konoha. Why had Naruto stolen the scroll? Could it be he had really been a spy, planted so many years ago just for this purpose?

Turning he stared over his shoulder at the closed door leading into his office. "Kakashi-san."

Seconds later he was greeted with the presence of the masked, one eyed man.

"Well?"

"An ANBU patrol noticed Mizuki moving out of the village quickly carrying a scroll." Kakashi answered blandly. "At the time we didn't know that it was the forbidden scroll, he's a teacher after all and they assumed it was something to do with the academy."

"Mizuki was plotting to frame Naruto in the theft of the scroll."

"It would be foolish to take a forbidden scroll without checking to see if it was trapped. I think, if I'm correct, that Mizuki planted the scroll in a prearranged place that he knew Naruto would go. The boy would of course read the scroll and set off any traps inside."

"Mizuki was never a foolish one." Sandaime said, puffing on his pipe. "Iruka was heading toward the forest when he found out, do you think that he might know where Naruto would be if he was training?"

"More than likely." Kakashi agreed. "I have a team already closing in, this whole matter will be resolved in a matter of minutes."

"Hmmm..." The Hokage frowned, then shook his head. "Let Naruto and Iruka handle this as much as possible. I only want your team to interfere if there is no other choice."

"Of course." Kakashi said, his tone sounding less than enthusiastic but he quietly retreated from the office leaving the Hokage alone. Sandaime sighed, popping his neck absently before clasping hands behind his neck and moving back to the window to stare out over the village.

Was he taking too large a gamble that a Genin and an almost inexperienced school teacher could beat a man good enough to steal a scroll from the Hokage's private office? Probably...but Sandaime had this feeling, there was something large on the horizon and for the foreseeable future he would have to bank on Naruto.

Sighing the old man closed his eyes, wondering what his own teachers would have done.

There was no telling really and in all honesty, he was probably getting ahead of himself. First Naruto would have to not only survive the night but show an incredible skill to merit graduation from the academy. Something that would allow him to avoid becoming a civilan, yet somehow the Sandaime didn't think that would be a problem.

Unconsciously he mused about getting _her_ for the job as Naruto's sensei since the other teams were already formed. Konoha's number one trouble maker and Konoha's number one most sadistic kuonichi, alone on the same time.

That would be entertaining to say the least.

* * *

The forest was still and calm, glowing almost eerily in the moonlight. A few nocturnal animals prowled silently searching for prey. They froze only as the solitary figure dashed over head, silently going above and then below branches. He was moving faster than a regular human could run on the ground and his passage just barely disturbed the stray leaves in the trees. 

He was pushing himself, searching desperately, with his heart pounding in is ears. How had things gone like this? He had it planned so perfectly! It shouldn't have collapsed like this, but it was ok...he could improvise, adapt. Nobody would know, no way could they know.

First he'd kill that bastard and then he'd remove the other moron, then he could arrange things perfectly. Naruto had killed Iruka, the scroll is gone, most likely destroyed in the fight. So sad, so sad, but it was alright because the traitor would be dead, Iruka would be a hero, and the Yondaime's scroll would be his.

Mizuki allowed himself a rare real smile of pleasure. Things could still work out perfectly, there was nothing to worry about, nothing at all. Ahead he caught sight of a pale orange jumpsuit, Naruto had some real speed. Mizuki smirked, there was no use denying that if Naruto lived he would amount to something decent. To bad he was going to die in this forest tonight.

Mizuki paced him for a moment and then sped up, zipping up even with the boy on the right side, knowing his henge to look like Iruka was flawless. "Naruto!"

The boy turned in mid-leap, his gaze distrusting but hopeful.

"Hurry! Pass me the scroll!" Mizuki-Iruka said urgently, trying to look concerned even as he moved ahead of the boy slightly. "Mizuki is after it!"

Naruto stopped, crouching down and Mizuki turned in mid-leap wondering what was up. Naruto pushed off the tree branch and Mizuki was caught in mid-air by a flying shoulder and forced into an uncontrolled dive snapping branches as he descended rapidly.

Mizuki grunted as he smashed into the ground and skidded to a stop. Pushing himself onto his hands and knees he turned to glare at Naruto who was falling back against a tree breathing heavily. "Why...Naruto?" Letting his Henge fade Mizuki glared at the boy. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

Mizuki was taken back when Naruto suddenly smiled while chuckling. Then even as he climbed back to his feet he was greeted with Naruto disappearing in a puff of smoke to reveal a smiling and bloodied Iruka. "Because I'm Iruka."

Mizuki froze for a moment, then smiled faintly. How foolish, he should have noticed the difference in the way they moved. Naruto pushed off with the balls of his feet while Iruka did so with the heels.

"You really care enough to give your own life for that brat?"

Iruka closed his eyes, bleeding heavily. "I won't hand the scroll over to an idiot like you!"

Mizuki blinked then laughed, shaking his head. How stupid could someone get? "You're an idiot, Naruto and I are the same. If you use the skill in that scroll, you can do whatever you want." Grinning he spread his hands laughing.

"Yeah...you can." Iruka said faintly, catching Mizuki by surprise. Iruka was agreeing with him? That had never happened before, could the man be trying something, what could he do? Iruka was on his last legs. "Naruto isn't the same as you though...he'll use it to protect this village..."

"Heh, you keep thinking that." Mizuki allowed shrugging.

"I...why not just run? When you first took it?" Iruka asked, his eyes almost out of focus.

"Oh, the truth is I wanted to make sure the techniques on the scroll weren't booby trapped." Mizuki grinned viciously. "I figure who better than the dead last student from the academy to test and make sure it wasn't dangerous. You just happened to come along before I could arrive and take it back."

Iruka grunted bracing himself against the tree trunk, shaking his head. "Cowardly...but you're wrong...Naruto isn't...I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students. He may be clumsy so no one accepts him and he might pull pranks...but he knows what it is to feel the pain of loneliness in your heart."

Mizuki felt his eye twitching. Iruka was using his last breath to defend that little prick? What sort of sense did that make?

"He is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village and it's number one trouble maker, he's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Mizuki sighed, shaking his head. He shouldn't be surprised, really, Iruka was always such a blind idealistic moron. Even back when they were in the academy together, of course that could be why the others would pick on him. Not that it mattered any more, so he'd just chalk this up to a difference in opinion.

"Whatever...Iruka I know I said I would take care of you later but I've changed my mind." Unstrapping the giant shuriken Mizuki narrowed his eyes, "HURRY UP AND DIE!" That shouted Mizuki darted forward, the shuriken spinning perfectly like he had always practiced.

Ten feet, five...four...he could already see Iruka's mutilated body, and that was what cost him the chance to kill the man. He had been too caught up in his own fantasy and had missed the inrush of orange until it was too late. One minute his gaze was locked on Iruka, the next a blue shoe was smashing into his cheek forcing him to release his shuriken while he twisted and sailed back once more to crash into the earth.

He bounced several times in his skid until he came to a stop and Mizuki could taste the tinge of copper in his mouth. How dare that bastard attack him? How dare Naruto make him bleed? Pushing himself up slightly he turned his gaze upon the boy, eyes dark with anger. "You should not have done that..."

"Don't touch Iruka-Sensei." Naruto said while he slammed the scroll into the ground so that it was standing upright. Mizuki watched as the boy lowered his head, focusing on him. Mizuki felt something inside him shiver in fear, fear of what he didn't know. "I'll Kill You!"

"You idiot! Why did you come out! Run away!" Iruka shouted before falling in a coughing fit.

Surprisingly that was all it took to jar Mizuki out of his cowardly fear. "Shut up! A little punk like you I'll kill in one shot!" He was taken back however when Naruto in response narrowed his eyes while moving his fingers into an unfamiliar seal.

"Try it trash!"

Even Mizuki could tell there was no bravado in that voice. This was an entirely different Naruto than anything he'd ever dealt with. But Mizuki refused to back down, refused to believe that the boy could actually be a danger to him. "You want to try a jutsu? Then do it!"

Seconds later as the boy's charka began to explode Mizuki wondered for a moment if the boy had used the scroll and if he had which skill he had learned. Then he noticed the chakra had a slightly different feel to it...it almost felt...more mature.

"Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Mizuki suddenly did not feel so confident, everywhere he looked there was a Naruto. He was trapped in a sea of orange and somehow...he didn't think these were just illusions.

"What's wrong? Come at me!" Said one of the clones, who was hanging upside down.

"Weren't you going to kill me with one shot?" Another taunted and Mizuki could only look around in confusion and mounting fear.

"Well then..." Another one added grinning darkly.

"I'll start things off!" Another finished, arm pulled back for a punch and a cocky smile in place.

Mizuki wasn't sure what happened, wasn't sure of anything except that he was now getting beat into coma by a thousand Narutos, and none of them seemed to be holding back. He was never so grateful for unconsciousness as when it finally washed over him.

Sadly his blissful escape was populated by orange and yellow demons.

* * *

"Did anyone find him!" 

"No!"

"Damn it! This is bad!"

"He maybe far away by now!"

The Sandaime shook his head, glancing at Kakashi who was casually leaning against a wall in the darkness. He offered a slight nod and the Hokage smiled smugly turning to address the panicking Jōnin. "There is nothing to worry about." He found it funny how fast his soft voice could bring such a stunned silence to a group of panicking ninja.

"Hokage-sama?"

Sandaime was silent for a moment, puffing on his pipe, thinking. It looked like he was going to have to use her after all, that made him quiet happy. Hopefully she would not turn out like her own sensei...still she should jump at the chance to teach, if he asked nicely. Better sooth these almost rabid baboons first so they don't kill Naruto on sight.

"He'll be back soon, with the real thief and Iruka-san." He saw the looks they were sending him and he could only close his eyes and puff a little more on his pipe. "You can go home now." They hesitated then slowly they turned taking off leaving the Hokage alone with the ANBU Commander who calmly walked over to join him while reading his book.

Kakashi stopped within arms reach, not saying a word and the Sandaime contented himself to stare up at the stars over head before speaking to the masked man. "Well?"

"He is interesting. Preliminary report says that Naruto not only learned a forbidden technique but used it with surprising results to defeat Mizuki." Kakashi looked up from his book raising an eyebrow while still looking incredible tired. "I told the team to wait until the two were clear of the area. I am curious...what now?"

"Now..." Sandaime mused, smiling to himself, before glancing at the silver haired masked man. "Now...I get to see Anko-chan about a teaching job."

"...You wouldn't. You would." Kakashi deadpanned before shaking his head.

"Naruto is unusual. He will need an unusual teacher...besides you've got enough on your plate."

"Yes."

Seconds later Sandaime was alone, hands clasped behind his back and blowing smoke rings into the brightening sky musing about life, the Yondaime and Naruto.

* * *

Iruka leaned his head back against the tree trunk, concentrating on his breath. He didn't think he had any internal injuries or bleeding, but there was no telling. The important thing however was that he would not be dying anytime soon. This meant he could consider the blond who was staring at him worriedly. 

Iruka did owe Naruto but there was only so much he could do. Naruto had failed the graduation test and passing the boy into the official ninja ranks would utterly irresponsable. Yet this was the last year that Naruto could even try for it and...the blond had met the minimum requirements.

There was no questioning that, still there was one thing Iruka couldn't help with. Naruto sucked at illusion, it'd be a huge liability to send him into the field. So what could Iruka do? The Hokage would never let Naruto pass if he couldn't complete that last step...but then again...Naruto HAD just split into over a thousand real bunshins right before his eyes.

Could that count? Iruka frowned considering that, real clones over illuisions would make him much less of a liability. Then Iruka winced, one of his wounds flaring up. Well, they might revoke Naruto's graduation to Genin but for a few hours he could let the boy, no his brother he realized with a start, experience what it was like to be a real ninja.

Now the only problem was where to get a forehead protector. That and the fact that Naruto kept asking if he was ok.

"Close your eyes." Seeing the hesitation Iruka narrowed his eyes, frightening the boy into doing just that.

Biting back a yelp of pain Iruka reached up and removed his own forehead protector, the cloth was faded and the plate was nicked and not nearly as pristine as the others. Naruto might not even like it and demand his own forehead protector, but it would do for the moment.

Moving onto his knees, ignoring the pain that raced through his body he reached up and removed Naruto's goggles before slipping the forehead protector in place. Satisfied he collapsed back against the tree.

"Sensei now?" Naruto sounded so anxious.

"Ok, you can open your eyes." Iruka said, plastering a smile on his face. There was no use in letting Naruto know just how hurt he really was. "Congratulations on graduating." Naruto's face registered shock at first and then surprise. "Let's celebrate! I'll buy you a bowl of ramen."

Iruka almost thought Naruto was going to shout, or cry...instead he sort of smiled and Iruka prepared himself to give a lecture -which might be his last considering his wounds- about how the hard part of being a Shinobi was just starting. Naruto however had different plans, the blond lunged forward embracing him in a bone-crunching hug.

Well...Iruka would just save that lecture for the ramen place.

* * *

**AN**

This will probably be the only AN I give for this entire fic, first off yes this is a retelling of Naruto P1. It was the winning contest entry for Krakensghost, I will update the 10th of every month. The plot for my story deivates after this chapter, it will touch back in during the Chunin and etc parts, but they shall not follow mindlessly the orginal manga.

If you don't like this, then go read something else. I understand about your distrust of retellings, I've read one or two myself...so I myself was leery, thus I tried to make mine avoid the problems of lesser retellings.

**Techniques/Jutsu's:**

I do have a tendency to use both the Japanese names for certain ones...I've collected the most common into a short list and present it here. These will be the only names that I'll contionusly use Japanese names for and this will be the only list.

So if you see a Japanese jutsu you don't know check here...All other jutsu's shall be in English.

Bunshin no Jutsu (Doppelganger Technique)  
Chidori (One Thousand Birds)  
Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)  
Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Technique)  
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Doppelganger Technique)  
Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)  
Meisai Gakure no Jutsu (Hiding Camouflage Technique)  
Rasengan (Sprialing Sphere)  
Shihohappo Shuriken (Shuriken from All Directions)  
Seneijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand)  
Sen'eitajashu (Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hand)  
Sojasosai no Jutsu (Twin Snakes Kill Each Other)  
Shosen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique)  
Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)  
Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)  
Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)  
Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)  
Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind)

**Misc. Section:** This is actually a list of plot points, excuses and explanations:

The plot follows (more or less) the original NP1 series, with changes occurring as I desire.

The Uchiha clan is still around

I have Naruto separated from Sakura and Sasuke, because Naruto back on the original team would be boring and pointless; he had no real instruction, plus yea know...I like Anko. (Just something about a hot woman that wears fishnet, loves sharp objects and routinely scares people to death that appeals to me.)

I've done my best to keep from bashing any character -seriously I have- and keep Naruto from failing into the various pitfalls that so often occur. The main focus of the story is on gasp the character it's named after! All characters are interpreted as I view them, I've done my best to keep them IC. If I failed, I hope I've done it at least in an entertaining way.

On the surface when compared to the original and the other characters in this fic Naruto is stronger than he should be. When you stop and think it's not, it's merely the difference of one-on-one training compared to what everyone else is experiencing.

As for the Sasuke vs Naruto debate, Kurenai is a more conservative teacher while Anko is trying to create a ninja that could perform B, A and eventually S-ranked missions. However, I do plan on having them about equal in power and skill like in the original series.

I'm reluctant to give pairings due to the fact that the characters are currently 12 and 13, but I will to save time list the only ones that will in some way matter to either this story or it's sequel:

Sasuke/ Sakura  
Naruto/ Ino  
Lee/ Tenten  
Iruka/ Ayame  
Anko/ Kakashi  
Hinata/ Choji  
Hayate/ Yūgao


	3. Chapter 2: Sensei

**Naruto:** Altered History  
**Chapter 2:  
**-_Sensei_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Naruto was one of the few shinobi that was actually a deep sleeper. A very deep sleeper. A fact that had earned him the ire of many of his classmates, who had borne the brunt of Iruka's resulting lectures on the importance of punctuality and consideration to a shinobi. Iruka, being the practical teacher he was, had understood that lectures to the class were not a complete solution, which was how Naruto received his first alarm clock. It was a rather banged up device but it served, every morning, to fill the air of Naruto's apartment with shrill beeps and buzzes. 

The question however was if Naruto could actually hear the racket it created while sleeping. Although many of his neighbors would argue to the contrary, the answer was yes, he could indeed hear it, though most of the time he did his best to ignored it.

Rolling over he slapped his hand blindly all over the place before finally silencing the offending noise. Rolling over again he sat up, yawned and tried to force his eyes to open completely, which was really a loosing battle. Still he dragged himself out of bed and ignoring the shower for the moment stumbled his way into the kitchen.

Stubbing his toes against a battered table leg, he cursed while fumbling with his second hand fridge for his milk. He spent another minute or so waiting at his equally battered looking toaster and then sat down, sleepily stumbling his way through breakfast, brushing the odd taste of the milk off as well.

Now relatively awake he climbed back to his feet and stumbled back into his bedroom to change clothes. Was there anything as lovely as orange? Naruto didn't think so; he had gotten it from a second hand store and wore it proudly along with his goggles.

After a seconds consideration he finally removed them and reluctantly set them aside, picking up the forehead protector he had received only two nights ago.A shiver of excitement ran down his spine as he admired the Leaf symbol that adorned his forehead protector. _His _forehead protector, the realization struck him again. He had graduated.

After years of trying but being ignored and looked down upon he had been acknowledged for something other than making trouble. Of course his graduation method had been a little unconventional, but hell, he was Uzamaki Naruto the master of surprises.

He was an official ninja and now he had to get his butt in gear to reach the academy as ordered. Trying the blue piece of cloth in place, he took one more look in the mirror, thinking he really did look rather dashing. Grinning happily, he turned rushing out of his apartment, wondering what was ahead of him.

He picked up speed quickly, darting through the almost empty streets of his neighborhood but all too soon he hit the shopping district and the crowds there were almost impossible to avoid. Taking a short cut, he darted down a back alley, knowing that he was going to be late unless he could remove some obstacles.

This meant creating a Kage Bunshin and using it to leap upwards onto the roof of a building with an unbelievable racket but still not slowing down.

He couldn't be late.

Desperate for an edge Naruto attempted to gather chakra to the bottom of his feet as he quickly charged the edge of the roof. It worked rather well actually, he managed a super jump...but forgot just how much chakra he had gathered at his feet and he had far to much momentum. This meant when he came down, he did so through the roof of a shop.

A shop that belonged to Matsushima who happened to be working and remembered Naruto. Seconds later Naruto was tearing out of the shop, with pieces of pottery shattering while the heavy set man tried to kill him.

Naruto thankfully escaped death and darted out of the shop, around the last few shoppers and went into a dead sprint towards the academy where someone was already ushering in the last of the new Genin. Pouring on an extra burst of speed, he shouted for the man to wait, which of course he did...which resulted in Naruto slamming into the man and bringing them both to the ground.

Leaving the poor fellow laying there groaning Naruto scrambled to his feet, tearing off down the hallway his feet almost flying from under him as he rounded corners and tried to come to a dead stop at the door leading to his classroom. Thankfully, he caught the door before one of his classmates closed it and panting he calmly walked through the gawking crowd toward his seat in the middle row.

Laughing in satisfaction, he propped his chin on his arms. He was a ninja! An honest, full-blown ninja! After three years, he had finally managed to graduate, which meant he was one more step closer to his dream of becoming Hokage. He could already see it, dressed in orange Hokage robes and adored by everyone in the village. He would leave the hat alone for tradition, if the hat was good enough for the Yondaime then Naruto could accept it.

He was somewhere in mid-fantasy about a certain girl fawning over him while he was served bowl after bowl of free ramen. "Huh? Naruto, what the hell you doing here?"

Sitting up he glared at the boy. "Can't you see the head protector?"

"Hn?" The boy leaned in close. "Sorta dinged and scratched...you didn't dig that out of a garbage can did you?"

"Why you!" Naruto growled, preparing to kill the boy when a new voice piped up.

"Hey will you let me through?"

Naruto glanced in the direction of the voice and felt his heart leap. Orange was his favorite color, there was no doubt, but a close second was pink. Especially the shade of pink found in Haruno Sakura's hair, it just seemed to stand out so perfectly.

A close third was green, the same shade as her eyes. Kami, what he wouldn't give for just one kiss from her...wait...could she...want to sit next to him?

Suddenly her beautiful face transformed into a horrible mockery of her earlier perfection as she jabbed a finger at him her voice rising in pitch. "Naruto! Move your ass! I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

Jerking back from that Naruto turned narrowing his gaze on his row mate. There, sitting quietly with his chin propped on his hands looking as cool as ever, was the 'great' Sasuke. Naruto hated that boy with a passion, always-perfect marks...everyone loved him and respected him.

Sasuke seemed to notice his attention and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What do you mean what!" Naruto shouted only to have his face forcible planted into the desktop by Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you!" Her voice sounded so sickeningly loving. It was almost enough to make even Naruto resent it. Ten minutes later Naruto was scowling straight ahead, Sakura was fawning silently over Sasuke who was staring ahead with a detached coolness.

Naruto definitely hated the boy. He just couldn't get it. What did Sasuke have that he didn't? Snorting in disgust Naruto looked away and smacked his face against the desktop. Whatever team he was assigned to, he just prayed it would not have Sasuke. He would have to seriously consider suicide if he did.

Thankfully, Iruka showed up before Naruto could get too far along such dark trails of thought. The man was still sporting a few bandages and seemed to have a mild limp but he smiled anyway.

"Beginning today all of you are real ninja, but you are still only Genin's. The hard part is just starting." Iruka paused, looking over the interested crowd, while Naruto could only beam brightly and almost vibrate with pent up energy.

He was a ninja, low level or not, he was a Genin and he would quickly rise. He was even preparing to shout something to that effect when Iruka continued his speech.

"Now you will soon be assigned duties by the village, which means that today is the day we give you your three man teams. Each of you will get a Jōnin-sensei and you WILL follow that Sensei's instructions as you complete your assigned duties."

There was much murmuring at this but Naruto tuned it out, forming his own dream team in his mind. It mostly consisted of Sakura and another pretty girl, who would look upon him as a great hero and ignore Sasuke. He started blushing as his little dream advanced to something he was only vaguely aware existed.

"We tried to balance each team's strength, which means some long standing traditions are being set aside for this years teams." Iruka said among several kids shouting in annoyance.

Naruto didn't care. Just as long as he was free from Sasuke, he would be decently happy.

"Team Ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata and Akimichi Choji. Team Seven will be Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke." Here Iruka paused while several girls revolted, Sakura celebrated and Naruto hung his head in despair. How! How could this injustice happen?

"Team Nine Yamabe Anzai, Yamanaka Ino and Aburame Shino. Team-"

He was supposed to have Sakura on his team! What cruel gods had he pissed off this week for this to happen? Several more teams were rattled off as he moped, unable to believe that fate and Iruka could punish him so soundly for no reason. How could they do this to him? He kicks Mizuki's ass and this was his thanks?

It was decided then, since Naruto could not get back at fate, that he would get back at Iruka. As of now, Iruka would have itching powder in his clothes for this injustice.

"...Ok, my final words as your sensei." Iruka cleared his throat, his tone serious. Don't assume how good you are based on your academy scores, nor think you know everything about someone."

Seeing the serious looks reflected back at them he finished. "So congratulations on becoming ninja. This afternoon we'll introduce your Jōnin-Sensei's, until then you're free."

It wasn't until he was the only one left in the room that he realized that he had never heard who his team was...that he had no clue what to do. At this, he jumped to his feet, eyes wide in panic as he grabbed his hair and paced frantically. "NO! Nonononononononononono!"

If he didn't know who his team would be and didn't show up they might decided to put him back into he academy or make him a civilian. As each second passed he felt his anxiety rise another notch, almost to the point that he was about to pull his hair out as he mumbled 'no' continuously.

"Naruto?"

Turning the blond released his hair and stared at the scared Chunin who was staring at him curiously. "Oi! What about me! Huh! Don't I get a team?"

"Oh..." Iruka said, scracthing his nose. "Er...it's not that you don't have a team Naruto it's just that, because of your unique graduation the Hokage has had to plan something very _special_ for you.

"Oh." Naurto deadpanned.

"Now how about that Ramen?"

Twenty seconds later, he was dragging Iruka toward his favorite ramen stand.

* * *

Mitarashi Anko was pleased. 

This meant she was cheerful and smiling. This meant that every ninja she had met since her return from her last A-ranked mission was terrified of her. Not because Anko appeared evil or mean, but rather because Anko carried an aura about her which told people, intuitively, that Mitarashi Anko should not be smiling.

Ever.

Anko however was smiling and she was cheerful and she swore that nothing could ruin her day. She should have known better than to think that. It was a rule of nature. Upon entering the Hokage Tower she beamed at one of the office workers who paled and hurriedly sped past. This caused Anko to only widen her grin, moving smoothly to the Mission Hall to turn in her report and receive her next mission or pay.

Stepping into the room she stopped short finding Iruka behind a desk, sorting missions. He did not even look up at her entrance which gave Anko a moment to consider the man. They had been in the same academy graduating class, yet where she had went to study under one of the most twisted individuals on the planet he had gotten a normal sensei.

Anko's grin went up another notch.

Iruka suddenly froze, as a deer might when it sensed a predator. He remained perfectly still, not even his brush moving as Anko's footsteps echoed across the empty Mission Hall. It was not until she reached the table he sat at and had leaned a hip against it that he moved.

Anko was pleased to see the way his eyes bugged out and he stammered. It meant her choice in wearing only a fishnet shirt and mini-skirt was still a good idea. "Hiya!" Anko chirped happily, almost lazily dropping her mission report on the table in front him.

"H-hi." Iruka managed, and then coughing looked back down, quickly shifting through the papers. "H-how was the mission?"

"Great!" Anko beamed, putting a hand on her hip. "You wouldn't believe the dango they have in Waterfall. It'd be a nice vacation spot."

"I'm sure it would be." Iruka managed without stammering.

Anko leaned forward slightly, allowing her trench coat to fall open even more for a more nosebleed inducing view. "Aren't you normally teaching?"

"I-I..." Iruka trailed off and then averted his gaze back to the paper on the desk, which had dots of blood from his nosebleed. "Ahem! I've been transferred to assigning missions for the Hokage."

"Ooooh." Anko cooed coyly, walking her fingers across the paper to dip them in his blood and then leaned back, finger coming near her mouth. "Aren't you just moving right on up there?"

"I-I. . .It. . .I. . ." he stammered. Swollowing, Iruka looked up and with a Herculean effort, met her gaze. "I-it's only temporary. Until the next academy session starts." Taking a deep break he continued, "The Hokage would like to see you. I'll make sure that payment is placed in your account."

Smiling sweetly Anko licked her finger clean before winking at him. "Thanks!" Seeing the look on his face, she laughed, completely enjoying the discomfort she caused the man. Turning she sauntered back out of the Mission Hall, where her entire demeanor changed once more. Suddenly she was no longer pleasant or playful she was all business.

The Hokage never wanted to see her unless it was something important. Normally she operated solely on the 'complete mission-get new mission- complete it- get new one' method. Partly because that had been how she had been trained and partly because she couldn't stand most of the villagers with their mixture of disgust and sympathy whenever she was around.

Reaching the spiraling staircase, she literally jumped up the stairs, almost knocking officer workers off as she climbed higher and higher. Anko could not help but wonder if maybe this might be an S-Ranked Mission. Anko hoped so; She wanted one just to keep that bastard Kakashi from rubbing it in her face that she was the only Special Jōnin that had not done one yet.

How anyone could stand that bastard she had no idea, he was just too smug. ANBU Commander or not she would teach him a lesson, somehow, some way. She also probably hated him for the fact that Kakashi had turned her down for a date when she was a Genin, but she wasn't sure.

Reaching the topmost floor of the tower she kicked the door open and landed in a crouch, her trench coat fluttering behind her. Sadly there was no one to appreciate her appearance, or at least no one she could see. It did not take a genius to know that ANBU would be all over her if she tried anything.

Sighing she strode down the short hallway toward the door at the far end. Without hesitating she pushed the door open, talking without looking around, "Yo, old bastard."

The Hokage looked up from his desk, an eyebrow twitching at the remark but smiling anyway. "Ahhh...Anko-chan, how nice to see you again."

"Yea yea." Anko waved dismissively walking across the room to plop down in a chair across from the old man. "So what'd you want to see me about?"

"I have a mission for you. Possibly the most difficult mission of your career." Sandaime said his tone and demenor serious.

Anko sat up straight at that, just barely able to keep from bouncing like a hyper monkey. She knew it! An S-Ranked Mission! AT LAST! "I'll take it!"

"Don't you want to know the exact details-"

"I said I'd take it so I'm taking it!" Anko cut the old man off, her face flush with excitement. "So where do I go? Who's on my team? What's the target?"

Sandaime chuckled as he sifted through the papers on his desk and selected a folder, tossing it at her. Standing he turned and walked to a large window that looked out over the village. "That I believe will explain everything."

"Huh?" Anko said cautiously opening the folder. After a few minutes she jumped to her feet. "What the hell are you playing at!"

"Hmmm?"

"A GENIN! An S-ranked mission needs experienced Jōnin! There's not even a briefing for the Mission!"

"S-Ranked?" Sandaime repeated, turning to look at her curiously. "Oh...next time please let me explain a mission before you accept." Seeing her eye twitching he grinned smugly. "This is not a Ranked mission. It is a teaching assignment."

"WHAT!" Anko shrieked. How could this happen to her? HOW!

"As of now, you are the Jōnin-Sensei of Uzumaki Naruto." Sandaime said, sounding completely amused. "As you have already accepted I am afraid you can not reject it now."

"B-but...but..." Anko stammered staring at the old man while her hopes all came crashing down around her. "B-but..."

"Now, now...why don't you take a look at his record?" Sandaime said soothingly, moving his hand as if to calm her. "I'm sure you'll be back up to A-Ranked Missions in no time."

"...What does that..." Anko trailed off, before she narrowed her eyes, her tone full of venom. "I hate you."

"You are not the first." Sandaime admitted before turning back toward the window.

Anko, hands trembling, turned her gaze back to the folder reading it disgustedly. She hated academy records, they were a joke and more than a few people had ruined their careers by depending on these things. Snorting she looked at the Hokage's back darkly.

"Well?" He asked sounding as if he was musing about something.

"Well, if I was stupid enough to just go by the academy records..." Anko muttered looking at the opened file once more before glancing at the Sandaime's back. "I'd say this Naruto is just barely above a villager."

Sandaime was silent for a moment then chuckled. "True, true...so what do you really think of your student?"

"'My student'?" Anko repeated distastefully dropping the folder. "There's never been an Uzumaki in this village so I don't really know" Anko mused. "I'll probably kill him in his sleep."

"Actually a few people, like Iruka and Kakashi, have mentioned he's a bit like you." Sandaime said, humor lacing his words.

Anko could not help but snort at that, crossing her arms. "So can I ask why the hell I've been singled out? Any damn Jōnin could teach this brat. And why just one, don't you usually put Genin on three man teams? If I have to teach don't you think I am good enough to have a full team?"

Sandaime drew a breath through his pipe as he glanced at the woman who stood fuming before his desk. Looking again out the window of his office he slowly spoke, "Naruto was not a part of this years original graduating class, the circumstances surrounding his graduation are somewhat atypical. As such he was not accounted for when the Genin teams were originally put together. Incorporating him into one of the existing teams would be difficult so it was decided that this arrangement would be more appropriate"

Chuckling to himself as if he had just remembered some old joke the Sandaime continued, "In fact I think Naruto will do much better as an apprentice than in a Genin team. The boy has allot of potential for independent action, just like you did"

At this Sandaime turned to stare at her, his expression serious. "The other nine all have above average Jōnin-Sensei's...This boy, I am expecting extraordinary things from him so I needed an appropriate Sensei."

"Nine?" Anko asked, allowing the complement to roll off her back.

"If you recall, graduating from the academy is not the final step to becoming a Genin. Each Jōnin-Sensei has the right to challenge their new students with a test of their own design before accepting them."

"This year a full twenty-seven academy students passed the academy graduation exam, but of these I only expect nine to be accepted by their assigned Jōnin-Sensei's. If Naruto passes your test that would make ten." Sandaime said puffing on his pipe. "Those that remain will be the best of their year; I think however that your student will be the most highly regarded."

Anko closed her eyes, fighting to keep from blowing up on the man. Murder of a Hokage was frowned on...sometimes justified, but frowned on. Still there was this test. She could probably devise something that would guarantee her freedom from this assignment very soon. Not that that made her any happier.

"Well that's it...he will be looking for you at the academy soon." Sandaime said in obvious dismissal.

"I still don't get it." Anko muttered shaking her head. "Why me..."

"...If I told you then Kakashi-san would have to have you removed." Sandaime said in a low, serious tone.

Anko was silent for a moment then scowling she bowed and prepared to leave the Sadaime's office. She could tell when the Hokage was joking or trying to provoke her and so it was clear that this had not been an idle threat. Which meant whatever was brewing was important, highly dangerous, and likely to be a lot of fun.

Anko turned to leave then suddenly spun back face the Sandaime. "Assuming I accept him, I am not going to be taking any stupid D-ranked missions just because of this brat. I want B-ranked or higher."

"B-ranked is beyond what you can expect of a Genin."

"You said he had a lot of potential. Afraid he is not as good as you might think? Hell, I was doing A-ranked missions when I was his age. If he is really worth my time he should at least be able to handle something B-ranked."

The Sandiame scowled at this for a moment until a mischievous smile spread across his face. "I will agree to only assign you B-ranked or higher missions on the conditions that you agree to train Naruto, full time, until you believe he can handle being on a B-ranked mission."

Anko smiled and nodded at this, "You will also promise me that you will keep him alive through his first two B or higher ranked missions," whatever Anko thought to herself, she would try but accidents happen, "and finally, if you cannot keep your promise then you agree to take a one year teaching assignment at the academy as Iruka's new assistant."

Anko paled as the Sandaime finished explaining his conditions. His smile had widened as he had spoke until there was a broad grin on his face. Clearly he was pleased with himself. A year at the academy, and working under that Chunin boy! Would he really be that cruel?

"Of course you could always just accept a series of D and C-ranked missions like the other Genin teams."

Now if Anko had been anything other than a trained Kunoichi she might have been caught by the dilemma posed by the Hokage. Danger, however, had an effect on her mind similar to the effect of adrenaline on the body. It pushed her thoughts into overdrive, heightening her perception and creativity. Within a moment she had her solution.

Shaking the image of a room full of pre-pubescent morons being instructed by a post-pubescent idiot out of her head. Anko rationalized to herself, it didn't really matter what she agreed to. It was not like the kid had any chance of passing the test that she had just devised for him. This assignment would be over before the end of the day. Smiling devilishly to herself at this thought she responded, "Alright then, I agree to your terms."

"Good." The Sandaime said, "You had better go to the academy now. I am sure your new student is eager to meet his new sensei."

Anko left the room with the devilish grin still on her face as she thought about the test she would give Naruto. Chuckling to herself. It was perfect, it would make that bell-test some of the Jōnin favored look like a walk in the park.

Forget passing, Naruto would be lucky to stay alive.

* * *

Naruto peeked out the door, his gaze growing disgruntled. What kind of sensei would be so damn late? Slamming the door with a thud Naruto paced the empty classroom, grumbling and wondering what was going on. Iruka had assured him over ramen that there was indeed a sensei coming for him. 

Naruto had been ecstatic he had a sensei. A private sensei even, nobody else could be around to make him look bad or to outperform him. Naruto stopped and rubbed his hands together gloatingly. First, he'd sharpen his skills up and then he'd quickly get so good that he could out shine that bastard Sasuke. Then Sakura would notice him...

Chuckling he lost himself in his daydream until he heard something that sounded like footsteps, which meant he whipped around and rushed to the door yanking it open, only to find the hallway empty.

"Damn it!"

Slamming the door once more he started pacing, wondering what could keep his sensei from being here on time. Maybe they were important and had to do a bunch of things. Naruto nodded, pondering that. Yes, it would fit; the Hokage was usually late whenever he spoke to them during the academy. Suddenly he froze eyes wide...what if...his sensei was the HOKAGE!

He started whooping and jumping around, acting like a complete idiot.

Then he realized that no, the Hokage probably wouldn't be his sensei and he deflated until he crumpled to the floor to stare hatefully at the door. "Why is my sensei so damn late?"

Crossing his arms, he looked away, eyes appearing closed. "All the other teams have gone off with their teachers." Naruto muttered. "Even Iruka-Sensei left..." Maybe whoever they had selected thought he wasn't worth the effort, that they were too good for him.

He wallowed in his funk for a moment until he decided to punish the bastard. Hopping to his feet, he eyed the classroom before spotting an eraser. Grinning he snatched it up and then jumped onto a table beside the doorway, carefully wedging the eraser between the door and the doorframe.

Hopping down he chuckled rubbing his hands together. "Hehehe...this is what they get for being late!" Eyes roaming his mind started designing another step for his prank, smiling a bit like a trickster fox from a story. Suddenly remembering that Iruka kept glue in the bottom drawer of his desk Naruto hurried over and retrieved said item. Grinning evilly, Naruto moved to the spot in front of the doorway and applied the liquid.

Emptying the bottle he grinned wondering what else he could do, this prank needed something extra...something for that added 'oomph'. Crossing his arms as he thought about it, he nodded, snapping his fingers.

Aloud, in a gloating tone he said "Of course!" and turned as if to retrieve whatever item he had thought off.

Unfortunately he had been so caught up in his prank on the teacher that had dared think he was too good to teach Naruto, the blond had not notice someone enter the room and move in behind him. Coming face to face with an adult, who was staring at him oddly, startled Naruto so bad that he stumbled backward and tripped.

Landing butt first in the glue and jarring the door so the eraser hit him on the head.

Naruto quickly tried to get back to his feet, but found that he was stuck -even his hands-. Cursing soundly Naruto looked up at the person that had startled him, surprised to find the black-haired woman laughing at him. He even managed to ignore the fact that she was wearing a long trench coat, fishnet shirt and a barely legal skirt. Still he couldn't help that his cheeks were burning from embarrassment.

"Who the hell are you!" Naruto questioned loudly, to give him a chance to recover some dignity.

The woman let her laughter trail away, though she continued to chuckle. "I'm Mitarashi Anko...you're new sensei."

"I'm going to kill that old man, Hokage or not..." Naruto grumbled unable to believe that Iruka would have any part in selecting his new sensei. If the man had, Iruka would have given him a sensei better suited to Naruto's level.

Anko however grinned.

* * *

He was shorter than she expected, looked underfed too. His clothes seemed second hand and his hair...had it ever seen a comb? Those whiskers on his face looked natural, yet he wasn't an Inuzuka. Well she didn't see anything that made her think he was anything special, well maybe his eyes...they were definitely determined enough. 

Sighing Anko reclined against the railing behind her, eying the Genin. Who in turn eyed her very intently, almost too intently to be comfortable. What made it worse was the fact that he was NOT ogling her body...he was judging her as a ninja. "Ok, the book said that I should ask about your dreams and all that."

"Book?" Naruto blinked.

"Yea..." Anko grinned, rubbing at the back of her neck. "This is my first time...hehe...Well not THAT first time but you know what I mean."

Naruto looked lost.

"So anyway!" Anko chirped before jabbing a finger at Naruto. "WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?"

"TO SURPASS THE HOKAGE'S!" Naruto shouted, reaching up to touch his forehead protector. "Oh and to invent one minute instant ramen. Cause waiting three minutes is horrible."

"...Dango's better." Anko said dismissively, preparing to move on with her test when Naruto interrupted her.

"Ramen!"

"Dango!" Anko shouted back, for no other reason than to argue.

"Ramen!" Naruto shouted jumping to his feet.

"Dango!"

"How can you resist the mouthwatering, sweet perfection of ramen!" Naruto demanded crossing his arms. "Especially Miso Ramen!"

"There is nothing better than sweet, enticing Dango!" Anko said, defending her food of choice while narrowing her eyes. It was a stupid argument but damn it the boy was pushing her buttons. Didn't he know that she was more than willing to skin him alive and hang him upside down by his toes?

Both continued to glare at each other, bodies tensed as if preparing for an attack should the other insult their food choice again. Finally, Anko mastered herself, remembering that he would be dead soon, and relaxed rolling her eyes. "Feh, Whatever."

"That's right!" Naruto shouted nodding decisively. "You know ramen is better than dango!"

Anko felt her eye twitch, and without meaning to, launched a kunai at the boy which grazed his cheek. The look on his face was priceless and she believed he might have actually wet himself. "That shut you up."

"OI!" Naruto shouted, glaring at her. "Are you completely insane? Throwing kunai around like there toys? That could have killed me!"

"Be thankful my aim's slipping runt." Anko retorted angrily.

"Runt!" Naruto shouted starting to charge toward her. "I'm going to-" whatever he was going to do he never got to say since before he could continue she was behind him, a hand firmly clamped over his mouth and a kunai against his throat.

Obviously talking with Naruto like a rational human being was out of the question. Dropping her former pleasantness, she allowed her more murderous side to emerge -which consisted of an intense killing intent and a sadistic streak in her voice- "First off, I am not a sensei. I did not ask to be a sensei and I don't want to be one. I have spent the last twelve years performing A-Ranked missions. Understand?"

Naruto nodded faintly and Anko pressed a little harder with the kunai.

"Second off, there were twenty-seven graduates. Only a handful will actually remain Genin. The others are sent back to the academy and in your case turned out into the civilian population. We decide who stays and who goes purely on a test that your Sensei decides."

Anko paused smiling. "Unfortunately for you I don't like Genin...and the test I have has an almost zero-survival rate." Letting go she saw the boy move away from her before turning around to glare at her.

"Screw you!" The blond shouted, only to make an 'eep' sound when a kunai passed within inches of his head, taking a lock of his hair.

"Careful little boy, you'll die before you even get to try my mission." Anko grinned, seeing the determined -if angry- look on the boy's face. Oh, this would be fun. "I want you to steal a particular book from a ninja named Hatake Kakashi; he has silver hair and wears a mask. The book is called _Icha Icha Paradise_ and he will probably be reading it if you find him."

"Oi! I know that book! It's a naughty book!" Naruto shouted eyes wide.

"You have three hours, two and half you spent waiting for me to arrive." Anko said ignoring Naruto's outburst. Then crossing her arms narrowed her eyes, "If you do manage to somehow not only survive but bring me said book within the time limit I will accept you as a ninja and my apprentice."

Naruto's gaze grew hard, almost to point of intimidating and then he nodded.

"Dismissed."

Anko was left alone on the roof, watching as the orange blur sped away from her. Absently she wondered if she'd ever see Naruto again...and if so how she would feel about it.

* * *

An orange blur shot across the roof tops, searching everywhere while traveling in random directions. He only had twenty minutes left, he had to find this Kakashi get that book and get back. Passing the ramen stand he was sorely tempted to stop and have several bowls, he even went so far as to slow down. Then shaking his head he averted his gaze and sped away, he could not dawdle. 

He did promise however that after he stole the book and got it back to Anko, he would eat ramen and plot revenge against the gods for giving him such an insane teacher. First he would desecrate several shrines, just to show that he was not intimidated and then he would...

...Wait, was that the man he was suppose to steal the book from?

Skidding to a halt -uprooting several roofing tiles in the process- he came to a stop and turned to stare at the man. Yes, silver hair, masked face little red naughty book. It was him, strolling down the semi-empty market street as if he did not have a care in the world.

Without thinking Naruto leapt from the roof top and landed in a crouch cutting the man off, grinning confidently. "Hey, hey!" Naruto shouted at the masked Jōnin who continued walking towards him. "I'm talking to you!" Naruto shouted once more not moving, preparing to attack. Yet to his surprise Kakashi somehow managed to appear behind him without even looking up from his book.

Naruto spun around, scowling. "Hey you bastard! Don't just ignore me!" Goaded into attacking Naruto drew and tossed several kunai quickly only to have the man catch each one without looking up from his book.

"Urk!" Naruto took a step back, hand coming up in front of him. Geez, that was just crazy.

Turning Kakashi stared at him oddly, his tone bland. "You're a little bit off aren't you."

"Oi! You're the one that's off here!" Naruto shouted, staring the man who slid the captured kunai into his pocket and continued to read his book.

"So what do you want?" Kakashi asked, turning a page.

"Your book." Naruto answered flatly. "Give it to me or I'll have to beat you up and take it." For a moment Naruto thought that he had managed to scare the man, but Kakashi just continued to read, turning a page every so often before he suddenly looked up as if realizing that Naruto was still there.

"Oh. Well then I suppose you'll have to beat me up and take it." That said Kakashi returned to reading, not paying attention to Naruto anymore.

Why that...lifting his hands he started to perform his Sexy Jutsu but stopped, scowling. No, if he won using that he could not claim to be a real ninja. This was one fight that he wanted to succeed at without resorting to a cheap trick. Nodding he shouted something and charged, pulling an arm back as if to punch. He changed his mind halfway through the attack and instead jumped while spinning.

Normally a kick of some sort would follow this move but instead Naruto threw a hammer fist, counting on the element of surprise. The ANBU Commander casually caught the fist, without even looking up from his book, stopping all the forward momentum.

Naruto was undaunted however and shifted his remaining momentum to carry him through into a round kick which Kakashi simply ducked, still not looking up from his book. Naruto felt his foot touch the ground a second before he pushed off again, a punch aimed at Kakashi's face.

The ANBU Commander, still in a crouching position, somehow managed to disappear and reappear behind a now frozen Naruto -who had his punch fully extended-. "A ninja isn't suppose to get caught from behind idiot." Kakashi said conversationally as Naruto turned, eyes wide.

Seconds before Naruto could even consider what was about to happen Kakashi was moving, thrusting his fingers forward. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Attack: A Thousand Years of Pain!"

Seconds later Naruto was yelling and launching himself high into the air from the jab to his ass.

* * *

Kakashi sighed, standing upright. He could not help but feel a little disappointed, he had expected more from Naruto...yet his Taijutsu had been sub par at best. The boy did not even seem to grasp the concept of stealth and what was with that jumpsuit? He was almost ashamed that Naruto had learned his sensei's technique. Shaking his head Kakashi turned, opening his book once more. 

Oh well, it had proved slightly entertaining at least.

Ignoring the looks he received, for either the book or having just shattered a Genin's dream he wasn't sure, he continued on his way giggling. Jiraiya-sama knew how to tell a great story, that was for sure. Turning a corner he stopped long enough to buy lunch, without looking up from his book, and then continued on wondering what else he could do on his lunch break.

* * *

That was not supposed to happen! Naruto raged to himself as he quickly approached the rooftop of a building. He tried to twist so that he could brace for the impact, but this only made it worse and his head smashed painfully against the rooftop with a loud cracking sound. It was the last thing Naruto saw before darkness engulfed him. 

_Naruto felt like he was sinking and rising at the same time. Floating was the best word to describe it. Yes, he was floating in liquid darkness. Then he felt a burning sensation spreading out from his stomach. The heat intensifying and he gasped, feeling as if the darkness was rushing into his lungs. _

Who was that strange, blond haired man smiling sadly at him?

The burning engulfed every part of his body and suddenly he was awake and sitting up. Looking around he panted heavily, his head feeling heavy and hurting. Reaching up he touched his head and feeling something slick pulled his hand away to reveal blood. He was bleeding!

Beginning to panic he ran his fingers through his hair, desperately searching for a wound of some kind, but found nothing. He breathed easier at that, now if he could just get rid of this damned headache. Climbing to his feet Naruto turned, remembering that he had been fighting Kakashi, almost expecting the man to have followed him.

Instead he saw an empty street.

Damn it! How long had he been out? Where did Kakashi go? Shaking his head to clear a buzzing sensation he started moving. Nothing else mattered except getting that damn perverted book. Still even as he searched he was not sure how he would manage it, especially after the humiliating way that Kakashi had beaten him earlier.

Unfortunately the blow to his head had not let him forget that. How could he? His ass was still hurting from that damn attack.

Cursing out loud he redoubled his speed, searching for Kakashi while applying his prankster mind to the problem of how to beat the masked man. Maybe if he had an army he could beat that masked ass-poking bastard...WAIT! Naruto did have an army, an army of Kage Bushins!

Now...how could he use them to beat the man up and steal that book? Skidding to a halt he found the man, noticing that he was only a few blocks away from where Anko was waiting for him. He needed to hurry! Then inspiration struck him, prankster inspiration, the gods were with him today.

Still to pull it off he needed something. Maybe with luck. . . Yes! Rummaging through his pouch he pulled out a small scroll. He only had a couple of these left, if only he had paid more attention during Iruka's classes he would not have to waste it now, but there was no time to lament. Lifting his fingers he molded his chakra, grinning wickedly as a dozen Kage Bushin clones appeared around him.

"Right! Everyone understand the plan?"

"Right!" His clones shouted back to him.

* * *

The lazy eyed ninja continued to meander down the empty street. He had noticed that a group of youths, suspiciously clothed in identical -bright orange- attire, were rapidly closing in on him. They seemed to be trying to hide their approach as they moved to surround him. Kakashi smiled. Maybe his earlier assessment of the boy had been too harsh. 

Surrounding an enemy with superior numbers and then launching a surprise attack was a pretty good strategy. Basic, but a hell of a lot better than a Genin trying to take on a Jonin in a direct fight. There might be some hope for the kid after all.

Then again, he reflected as nearly a dozen Naruto's jumped from hiding into battle stances around him, maybe he was an idiot. "Didn't last time teach you anything?" Kakashi sighed.

Apparently ignoring the comment one of the Naruto's yelled, "Who's the idiot now? Let's see you catch my kunai when they are coming at you from all directions"

In response Kakashi just stared at Naruto, his visible eyebrow raised slightly in surprise, was the brat really that stupid? Had he never heard of crossfire? But he did not have long to ponder this, instead twisting to the side, gracefully dodging a kunai thrown by a Naruto behind him.

A moment later he heard a satisfying pop as the kunai embedded itself into the clone that had been standing in front of him, dispelling it. Kakashi could not help but chuckle to himself. "Hey Baka. I thought you wanted to fight me, not yourself." At this he heard one of the Naruto's growl in anger.

That's probably the real one, clones always have weaker emotional reactions. Turning to that Naruto Kakashi said lazily, "You know you shouldn't reveal yourself like that. It makes it too easy. I know, why don't you go home and try again tomorrow."

As he spoke he could see the anger building up in the boy. One more push should put him over the edge. "Maybe you could get some help on strategy from someone? That Uchiha kid seems bright. I am sure that he could give you some pointers." Kakashi finished with a small laugh.

"You bastard! You're gonna pay!" Screamed the enraged Naruto, hurtling his kunai at Kakashi who was doing his best not to break out laughing. The brat was too easy to read and his throw was horribly off, it would miss him by at least six inches. Best of all, there was another of the boy's Kage Bushins right in the kunai's path.

Naruto might not be much of a ninja but at least he was good for laughs.

Not bothering to move he turned his attention back to his book, giggling at how amusing his lunch break was turning out to be. There was a pop and a puff of smoke, then suddenly the book was ripped out of his hand. Whirling around he saw the Bushin who he had expected to be impaled by the thrown kunai deftly catch another Naruto who had been hurtling through the air clutching his little red book just before.

For a moment Kakashi stood there in shock. The it hit him. It had all been a trick. The Bushin circle, the mock anger, the kunais, that kunai, Naruto, his book. HIS BOOK! He was about to spring at the boy when he was tackled from behind and buried under a pile of orange ninjas.

Throwing them off an instant later and standing up Kakashi received his second shock of the day. The small, previously empty, street was now filled with over a hundred Naruto's, all grinning devilishly at him.

"Give it back to me" Kakashi seethed, a wave of killing intent rolling off of him.

"Oh" Responded one of the Naruto's nonchalantly. "Well then I suppose that you'll have to beat me up and take it."

The veins on Kakashi's forehead bulged. "With pleasure" He said venomously.

Kakashi knew what his mistake had been, it was obvious. He had underestimated the blond Genin, that was the only way such a trick could work. Well he would not underestimate Naruto again, oh no, as a matter of fact Kakashi was going to make sure the boy was stuck in the deepest and dankest cell the ANBU hand.

How dare the boy steal his precious?

Narrowing his eyes Kakashi gave chase. He dealt with the Naruto's clones only to find the original had not been among them and was instead fleeing the area. Noting that Naruto's speed had improved since their brief skirmish earlier and that the boy had a good head start Kakashi drove himself to catch up.

In the distance Naruto dropped to the street, darting around a corner and then, using a series of leaps from successive ledges and window sills, cleared a wall. Kakashi cleared the same wall in a single bound not three minutes later.

Seeing Naruto struggling his way out of clothes line, tossing a pair of frilly underwear off his head and avoiding the barking dog, Kakashi increased his speed. If his book was damaged then death would be a welcomed relief for the bastard child after he was through him. The boy in question glanced back at him only briefly before he bolted once more, knocking an older woman over as he tore out into the street.

Moments later Kakashi burst out onto the street, seeing Naruto slipping and sliding as he made a near impossible turn. Following, Kakashi passed through a pair of wildly swinging doors. Jumping over a bar of soap, Kakashi noted absently that he was in the women's bath full of young and middle-aged women who did not seem to be in the habit of bathing with towels.

Kakashi was tempted to stop, but decided instead -spurred on by appearance of a body guard- that he had other more important matters on his hands.

Namely the murder of Uzumaki Naruto.

Bursting through the still swinging back door he skidded to a halt, looking around frantically for the boy. He was alerted seconds later to the blond's location by the shout of 'Taju Kage Bunshin!' Racing to the end of the alley way he found dozens of Naruto's scattering in every direction, each carrying a little red book.

Raising his own fingers Kakashi glared. "Taju Kage Bunshin: Kakashi Version!" Seconds later each Naruto Clone was being chased by an angry Kakashi Clone.

* * *

Taking a bite of her dango, followed a sip of her juice, Anko smiled in satisfaction. Swinging her legs she glanced at her watch then closed her eyes taking another bite. In a few minutes some ANBU lackey or even Kakashi himself would show up and tell her the horrible news. 

Yup, any minute now Anko would no longer have a student. _Oh, the tragedy_.

"Nothing better than dango and juice..." Anko said happily finishing off her dango followed by checking her watch. "Well, maybe screwing that old man out of torturing me..." So, excited about her imminent return to her A-ranked missions, she started to hum a happy tune, until the orange blur came crashing back onto the roof in front of her.

Naruto scrambled to his feet and shoved a little red book into Anko's hands, just as the bell rang on her watch, announcing that he not only survived but also succeeded in his mission. Naruto did look decidedly worse for the wear. Almost as if he was on his last legs.

Eyes narrowing Anko glanced from the blond to the book in her hands, noting the familiar markings of Kakashi. Damn it, she hadn't expected Naruto to actually pass. Anko thumbed the book for a moment then looked back at Naruto. "How did you do it?"

"I kicked his ass." Naruto bragged, stooping over to gasp for air.

"You kicked the ANBU Commander's ass?" Anko questioned, unable to keep amusement out of her voice. She would have to accept that since the boy had not only escaped Kakashi but also completed the mission objective. "Well, congratulations I guess...not many Genin could beat an ANBU Commander."

"So do I pass?" Naruto suddenly said, jerking upright and looking as if he hadn't just fought one of the Leaf's strongest ninjas.

Actually, as Anko studied his face, he looked more like he was about to start celebrating. She was starting to consider ways to murder him when the truth of what Naruto had done struck her. He had beaten Kakashi! Her student had managed to earn a win against one of the most powerful ninja in the village. Sandaime might be right. Hell at this point the brat could probably even handle a B-ranked mission!

No, no, a bit of training first...but...Anko tingled at the thought.

"Well, I guess I'll make it official tomorrow or something..." Anko said finally, struggling to keep from dancing. "Welcome to Team Anko..." Seeing the shock on his face she grinned then leaped to her feet taking off at high speed. She needed to put a training regiment together. Sadly, she had never been a sensei before so she was flying blind...still...  
.  
.  
Naruto remained where he was at for several seconds and then started cheering, performing an odd dance as he celebrated becoming a full-fledged ninja. Yes, yes, yes! First, he was going to find Iruka-sensei and celebrate with several bowls of ramen and then he'd find Sakura-chan and she'd be so impressed with him that...

"Where's my book?" A familiar voice questioned commandingly and Naruto spun around quickly, staring up into the face of Kakashi, who had both eyes exposed as if ready for anything.

"W-what book?" The blond stammered, blue eyes wide.

"The one you stole from me." Kakashi growled threateningly, his red eyes swirling.

"Uhhh...I don't have it..."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he started cracking his knuckles and advancing on the trembling Leaf Genin.

* * *

The ancient forest belonging to Konoha almost looked magical in the moonlight; the grass and trees glowed and the sky over head sparkled with thousands of distant stars, each unique and bright. It was a beautiful night, filled with the soft sounds of crickets and other nocturnal inhabitants of the forest. 

One such inhabitant was a small fox that stalked something in the darkness, stopping now and then to sniff the air before finding the scent anew and running in a different direction. After a few minutes the fox slowed to a trot, so that he was still moving briskly but with even more stealth.

He caught a scent behind him, it smelled rather canine, but he ignored it. The first scent was more intriguing and it was getting stronger. Suddenly slowing he crept through the underbrush emerging into a clearing with three large stumps and a figured tied to the middle one.

Cautiously the fox approached, sniffing as it went, moving in slow even steps toward the apparently unconscious blond male. Stopping it sniffed his foot, then ear twitching, took off back into the forest as if frightened by whatever it had discovered. Amazingly, it had been so silent that one would have to be an ANBU to detect it.

With a low, pain filled, groan Naruto opened his eyes. Staring blearily at the world around him then pausing realized that he could not move an inch. To make matters worse his body was stiff and sore...then his stomach decided to growl and he realized that he was hungry too. Damn it! What happened to him and where was he?

Struggling futilely against the ropes for several minutes he stopped and hung his head. He shouldn't have skipped the review on how to escape this type of thing. Though putting hot sauce in the Hokage's tea had been a pretty good prank.

Still it didn't help him much now, which meant he had only one option left.

"Hey! Someone untie me. Damn it!" Naruto shouted, listening as his voice echoed before he repeated it.


	4. Chapter 3: Training

**Naruto: **Altered History  
Chapter 3:  
-_Training_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Naruto stumbled along, mind muddled by a lack of sleep. He was lucky he could even put one foot in front of the other and it was due mostly to the hand he had outstretched that he had found his way to the secluded training area that his new sensei had told him they were using. Stifling a yawn he sleepily swore that if she was not there he was going home and back to bed, he had had enough of that crazy woman at three that morning when she dragged him out of bed for a morning warm-up. 

Mumbling apologies he managed to keep several angry women -and one oddly grateful old woman- from attacking him and his offending hand, so that he reached the selected training grounds relatively unharassed. Through bleary eyes he saw that he was utterly alone and decided that instead of dragging himself all the way back home he would collapse there and catch up on his sleep. Collapsing like a puppet that had its strings cut he sprawled out near one of the posts.

Sleep however eluded him for the most part, thus he settled for dozing allowing his mind to assault him with images of Sakura brining him bowls of free ramen while his sensei, Anko, would extol how he was more talented than anybody and how proud she was to be on the same team as the boy that could win against such strong opponents as Mizuki and Kakashi.

Then he'd show her all his moves and...and...

WHAM!

"Owwwww!" Naruto yelped, jerking at the sharp and painful contact with his ribs. Sitting upright he turned his dark glare on the attacker who stood over him. Preparing to insult them, he found himself staring at the barely-legal skirt that topped the legs of his sensei. Biting back his angry retort he let his gaze drift even higher, over her immodest fishnet shirt -which conjured several odd 'day dreams' in his head- to her smug face.

Naruto could not help but blush faintly.

"And what, may I ask, is going through your twisted little mind?" Anko inquired curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"N-nothing Anko-sensei!" Naruto shouted involuntarily, hands going behind his head nervously. Like whenever Sakura caught him staring at her in '_that_' way. Usually he would be hit over the heard painfully.

"Right." Anko said, narrowing her eyes. "Well guess I better give you the rules now huh?"

"Right!" Naruto said enthusiastically, nodding. While he was not a fan of rules -it could be said that he subscribed to the notion that they were made to be broken- he would listen to anything she wanted to say because she was going to help him become an even awesomer ninja.

Reaching into her coat she pulled out three kunai, holding them up between her fingers. "First," Anko said sending a kunai speeding toward the space between his legs and crotch. "Get whatever perverted thoughts you have about my body out of your mind."

"Oi!" Naruto started to protest jumping to his feet only to duck as another kunai sailed over his head taking several locks of his hair. Just how crazy was this woman!?

"Second, do not call me Sensei. My name is Anko, I don't believe in being polite and neither do you from what I can tell. So let's just save ourselves the trouble." Anko narrowed her eyes, studying him closely. "Also...keep the noise down. Mornings aren't my thing, especially after a night at the bars, and you're giving me a headache."

"Er...yea..." Naruto said, staring at the third bladed weapon. "So...uhh...Anko, what's the other rule?"

Twirling the weapon on her finger she managed a very disturbing grin. "We start with taijutsu sparring everyday, but not until this kunai is embedded in a tree." That said she took two leaps backwards and grasped the kunai with three fingers, flicking her wrist to send the weapon thudding into a nearby tree without looking.

Naruto darted forward, missing the fact that his sensei was not moving an inch. She even seemed distracted as if he wasn't that important. Narrowing his eyes he redoubled his speed, intent on making her see that he was not somebody to take lightly. Much to his surprise he found himself within striking distance without her moving. Training from the academy took over and he pushed off the ground, attempting to send a right cross into her cheek. What happened next caught him completely by surprise.

Anko twisted her body, swatting his punch up and away like it was a pesky fly, then jabbed two fingers into his armpit sending intense pain up the side of his body. Yet before Naruto could even process that, she drove her palm into his chin knocking him to the ground with a spray of blood as his teeth cut into his tongue.

Blinded by pain Naruto completely forgot about Anko as he brought his hands up to his mouth, where they grew slick with his blood. His mind was reeling unable to process what had just happened. Hadn't they been sparring? Oh god's gods the pain! Why had she done that?! Gods why wouldn't the pain stop! He spent several minutes on his back, clutching his mouth and then finally as the pain ebbed enough for him to function he glared up at her through eyes blurred by tears.

What he saw there confused him more than anything. Anko was standing there with a look of intense disapproval on her face.

"Vat the vack vas thavt!" Naruto shouted angrily, spitting blood from his mouth and still covering it with his hands.

"That was a palm-heel." Anko answered blandly. "I should be the one asking you what the hell you're doing sitting around. I didn't say we we're done."

"Vat!" Naruto exclaimed jumping to his feet, spreading his arms wide and allowing the blood in his mouth to drip onto his chin. "Are you insane!"

"Fine. I guess you're not a ninja after all..." Anko taunted, letting her loathing show in her words.

Naruto felt himself bristle at that, something that which he was not quite familiar with. Not a ninja? NOT A NINJA?! Suddenly, forgetting his linger pains he attacked her once more, moving like a wild animal. His punches were more liking clawing than anything they had learned in the academy.

His mind seemed obsessed with hitting her, with whipping that smirk off her face. Yet each time she deflected his attacks.

"Are you trying to hit me?" Anko asked casually, almost appearing to stifle a yawn. Then catching him by surprise once more Anko struck. This time she caught one of his punches and moved to the side, her other hand slamming into the back of his neck which was followed by suddenly driving him forward in a spin before inverting the momentum so that he twisted onto his back in the air. "Fu-" Naruto started to shout, but was cut off as the last of his breath was forced out of his lungs as he landed on his back with a thud.

Knowing enough not to just lie there Naruto turned onto his stomach and raised himself to all fours, trying to get back to a vertical base, only to feel a hand slide under his chin and grab the opposite collar of his jacket. This was followed by a leg hooking one of his arms while his other was knocked from under him. A moment later he found himself wrenched over by the combined action of the wrist against his neck and the leg entangling his arm.

Unable to support himself he was forced onto his back again, this time with his arms were spread out as if affixed to a crucifix, one tightly wrapped in Anko's legs the other firmly held by one of her own arms. An astute observer would note that the position was a textbook form of the Jigoku-Jime -the Hell Strangle- a technique named for its reputation of giving those who experienced it a glimpse into torments of the damned.

At that point though Naruto was neither astute nor observing. He was suffering, greatly. Anko had chosen to forgo the quick and painless artery choke, normally used in this technique, for a larynx crushing variation. This had the pleasure of increasing both the intensity of the pain and allowing the victim to remain conscious to experience it. Added to this punishment Anko had managed to maneuver her legs so that she was able to apply pressure on his entrapped arm, forcing it to bend unnaturally.

Naruto could not think of anything but to thrash around in a hopeless attempt to escape. He could not even scream out at the pain since no air could move into or out of his lungs. Then suddenly the pain was gone and he was forcibly kicked away. He rolled in a cloud of fallen leaves before coming to a stop on his side, clutching his arm and biting back his curses he coughed to reopen his airway.

"Never attack an enemy blindly!" Anko shouted angrily. "Now this time, when you attack me don't go wild. Use your damn head, watch my movements and stay relaxed. Otherwise next time I will break your arm!"

Naruto glared up at her, unmoving, his mind filled with violent thoughts that he had never really had before. Thankfully his common sense was prevailing and he was not trying to act on any of those satisfying -though admittedly stupid- ideas. Instead he was thinking about how he could just get up and leave, how he could complain to Iruka and the Hokage about her and thus be free from her torture.

Yet, he had never backed down from anyone or anything before and he was not sure what he would do if they announced that without Anko he would be forced to abandon being a ninja and accept life as a normal citizen of the village. Besides, there was a burning in his blood, a desire to keep fighting and that would not allow him to just give up. Climbing back to his feet, still clutching his arm, he hacked and spit a glob of blood at her foot shooting her one of the most hateful glares that he had.

"Maybe there's hope for you after all." Anko allowed, her sadistic smile in place once more.

"Screw you, you sadistic bitch!" Naruto shouted charging forward, letting his arm go and rearing back for a punch.

A minute later a loud cracking sound was followed by a scream of pain.

* * *

Iruka was feeling hopeful, even excited, he had a spring in his step and smile on his face. At last! At last he was king of his classroom! There was no Naruto to muck things up, as much as Iruka liked the boy there was no denying Naruto mucked almost everything up for the class. Not today however, oh no, today he had had a class full of attentive and well-behaved recruits. 

He even had the Hokage's grandson, though he hadn't seemed especially interested in anything Iruka had to say.

Still! Today was a good day. Nothing could possible ruin it for him... not even knowing that Naruto's sensei was probably at this moment skinning the boy alive. Iruka stumbled in mid-step at that thought, then scowled. No, he was definitely upset over that thought, because having known Anko since they were both Genin he knew exactly how vicious she could be if motivated.

Naruto could motivate anybody...

...Anko was a fan of pain...

Iruka decided that after he had some ramen he would go have a few shots of sake to avoid thinking on the horrible fate that was befalling his adopted brother. Nodding he started off once more, hurrying as he went almost knowing that there would be nothing left due to the lunch rush -or more correctly the 'Naruto rush'-. Reaching the familiar Ichiraku stand he pushed aside the flaps and stepped into the mildly dim ramen stand.

He noted with a bright smile that Ayame seemed to be working alone today. The pretty waitress spotted him as well and with a blush waved. "Iruka-kun!" Iruka started toward the stool directly in front of the girl, watching as she put the rag down and leaned forward against the back of the counter "So...busy day at the academy?"

"For once, no, not at all." Iruka beamed, taking his seat. "Speaking of busy days Aya-chan are you working by yourself today?"

The girl blushed faintly, casting a glance at the sole other customer in the bar before looking back at him. "Yea, dad decided he'd like to go fishing today." Leaning forward slightly she rested her chin in her hand locking eyes with him. "I'm closing the bar at seven Iruka-kun..."

Iruka grinned, scratching the back of his head nervously. Even he could not miss the hint she had just given him, yep she was fishing for a date...sadly Iruka just did not have enough confidence to believe that she would actually want to date him more than once. "Ahah...uhmm...do you still have any ramen? I know it's a bit of a risk coming in following the lunch rush..."

Pouting Ayame stood up and cocked a hip, hand resting against the counter. "We have plenty. Naruto never showed up today."

"That's strange." Iruka said, scratching the side of his nose. "Well, I suppose his sensei kept him training."

"You mean he actually passed?" Ayame said, eyes wide. "I thought he was just...I dunno, trying to get a free bowl of ramen or something."

"Oh no, he did..." Iruka scowled slightly. "Not that I'm exactly happy about who the Hokage choose to teach him."

"Oh?" Ayame frowned.

"Yea, she's not exactly the teaching sort-" Iruka trailed off however seeing the shock on Ayame's face and the way her eyes had widened. Turning Iruka expected to see, among things, Kakashi without his mask or enemy Shinobi pillaging the village or the horrible sight of Ayame's father, drunk and naked.

Instead he found himself staring at a disgruntled, bloodied, blond Genin known as Uzumaki Naruto. Iruka watched in total silence as the blond shuffle walked forward, looking almost as if he was unsure of where he was. Naruto did not even seem to register that Iruka was there, he merely moved toward the counter and weakly climbed onto the stool beside Iruka, promptly allowing his head to flop forward.

Iruka sat there in stunned silence, it did not look as if Naruto had been stabbed but all that blood and the zombie-like manner with which he was moving...yes it was safe to say that Iruka was very worried.

"N-Naruto?" Ayame whispered, reaching out to touch the blonds head before hesitating and moving away slightly.

"Urk..." Naruto groaned in response.

Iruka glanced at a worried Ayame then back at Naruto, wondering what exactly Anko could have done to the boy to put him in this state. "Are you ok?"

"Urk..."

Iruka hesitated, fighting the urge to alternatively grab the boy and go to the hospital and hunting Anko down for an attempted murder. Instead he settled for asking, in his mind a very stupid question. "What have you been doing?"

The blond lifted his head at this, glaring. "I've been training for ten hours..." Naruto's voice started to rise. "...with a sadistic, insane, psychotic bitch!"

"Naruto, calm down..." Iruka said, looking around almost embarrassedly. "I'm sure she's just-"

"THAT PSYCHOTIC BITCH IS TRYING TO KILL ME!" Naruto shouted, before slamming his hand on the counter. "Well I hate to tell her this but I am NOT going to die until I'm Hokage!"

"Ok, Naruto...take a breath...Anko-san is just trying to be a good teach-"

"That sadistic bitch isn't trying to teach me!" Naruto roared, earning a reproachful look from Ayame.

"Err..." Iruka said, gulping nervously. Only Naruto could have the sort of luck, that would allow the woman in question to be directly behind him. "Naruto..."

"Sadistic bitch huh?" Anko said, her tone conversational.

Naruto reacted without hesitation spinning around to glare at her, apparently not intimidated at all. "YEA! You're trying to kill me!" Naruto shouted angrily. "I've been stabbed, beaten and had my arm broken-healed-REBROKEN-REHEALED!"

Iruka felt the blood rushing from his face, staring at the two. He could not remember anyone ever calling Anko that...to her face at least. It just was not a safe practice and as much as Iruka liked Naruto, he wisely used all of his skill to move three stools away incase Anko decided to rend Naruto limb from limb.

A small frown line appeared on Anko's face as her eyes narrowed. "You haven't seen nothing yet you little prick." Reaching out she grabbed the boy by the back of the neck and jerked him off the stool and started frog marching him -despite his attempts at fighting back- out of the stand.

Iruka stared after them, unable to believe what he had seen...he was going to need several shots of sake tonight. Then tomorrow, yea...tomorrow, he would have to report to the Hokage about what he had seen. Leaving Naruto at the hands of Anko was just irresponsible.

"R-ramen...?" Ayame asked hesitantly, her own eyes locked on the entrance as well.

Iruka nodded faintly, still not looking away from the entrance. "Miso."

"Pick me up at seven-thirty?"

"Ok."

* * *

Shoving Naruto forward so that he stumbled and fell face first onto the ground Anko crossed her arms and glared at him. So he thought she was sadistic? Thought she was trying to kill him? He had no idea what those terms meant! First thing was first, she would enlighten this annoying brat about calling her names. 

When he had gotten back to his feet and turned to shout at her, Anko threw a kunai from her forearm holster at him, nicking his cheek. Before he could properly register what had happened, she was behind him, leaning over his shoulder. With her voice a low whisper she spoke into his ear, "I don't care what you call me, a Shinobi doesn't care if they're called a genius or a fool; the main thing is winning...I don't care if you hate me."

When he remained silent she grinned and licked the cut on his cheek. Hmm, his blood didn't taste that bad..."All I care about Naruto, is that you learn what I have to teach you." Using her free hand she offered up a kunai, her cheek pressing against his. "Now then, I want you to take this kunai and pick a training post."

Naruto took the kunai and -properly cowed for the moment- wandered to the training post in the middle of the clearing. Smiling Anko produced her own and picked the first post, staring at him levelly. "You need to watch closely, what I am about to try and teach you is very diffcult to learn."

Without even looking at the post, or moving her body she struck, driving her kunai as far into the post as humanly possible. Seeing the surprise on Naruto's face she allowed a faint smirk to grace her features. "In the Hebi Style this is considered a basic move, but very few can actually manage it. The key is to keep your shoulders absolutely still, to not let your eyes stray to where your striking and to move with the unpredictable suddenness of a cobra."

"Right." Naruto mumbled, before he attempted the move. On his first attempt he drove the kunai three-fourths of the way into the post, but his shoulders had moved and his eyes had drifted to his target.

"Try it again." Anko said patiently. Taijitsu had to be learned harshly but weapons and chakra control needed to be taught with patience. She could not show it to him and then just expect him to understand it perfectly, he was not a thieving Uchiha after all.

Naruto, muttering curses did as ordered. "Keep your shoulders still." Anko noted. First form and then she could concentrate on his eyes. She watched critically as he struggled to grasp the concept and keep his body from moving. Anko actually lost count of how many times he stabbed the post, how many times she told him to keep his shoulder still, but finally...he got it down halfway decently.

"Good. Now, keep your eyes focused on me when you do it." Anko said calmly, twirling her kunai on a finger. While she noted with displeasure the way his eyes would twitch toward the post just before he struck, Anko also noted how his arm jarred from the force of each blow. At least he was doing it with everything he had, still...his form was sloppy as hell.

Well it would still be added in Anko's mental 'I'm-not-going-to-kill-Naruto-because...' list. So far this list contained: the fact that he seemed to recover from everything she did to him quickly; his atypically large chakra capacity ; and his willingness to put everything into what he was doing.

"Oi! Why am I doing this?" Naruto suddenly asked glaring at her.

Anko had to bite back her annoyance. "An enemy can't read your movements if you don't telegraph your intentions. That's the basic principle behind the Hebi Style, everything we do in this style is to deny our enemies the ability to predict what we're about to do."

"Oh." Naruto said, scowling for a moment. "How'd you come up with it?"

"I didn't." Anko said, narrowing her eyes. "My _sensei _developed this style back when he was a Genin, to negate the reading abilities of the Uchiha and Hyuuga."

"Oh." Naruto scowled in thought for a moment. "So, if I get this down I can kick Sasuke's ass?"

Anko raised an eyebrow rivalry seemed to really motivate the kid. "Not if you talk instead of practice." Nodding, Naruto resumed his training striking even harder then before. Anko watched for a moment, frowning faintly. "Keep working on this. In an hour or so I'll show you the next step for this move."

When he did not even act like he was listening she smirked, jumping to the top of her post where she produced a carton of dango. Studying him more intently than ever, Anko could almost feel impressed with the amount of effort he was putting into his training. This was offset by the fact that he was one of the single most annoying people she had ever met.

Continuing to frown, Anko finished at least two more sticks of dango watching as he finally seemed to get the basic concept down, though his form was still sloppy as hell. Yeah, his shoulders were not moving but there was still a slight shift in his weight every time he drove the kunai into the post. Still, it was a vast improvement compared to where he had started from.

Stretching she took a step off the post, landing lightly beside it with her hands in her pockets. "Stop." He struck once more then turned to look at her. "The next step is a tad harder, so I'll have to move slow. Pay extra attention alright?"

"Fine."

Anko smiled faintly, the selecting her kunai and took a step foward while ducking to the right. This was followed by her arm sweeping back to drive the kunai deep into the post at an angle, turning she smiled at the boy. "The first step I showed you was so that you could learn not to telegraph your moves. This move is slightly different, you're taking a step forward and moving to the right all without telegraphing it."

"But...what good will that do? They'll just jump out of the way." Naruto protested.

Anko smirked, almost hearing an echo of herself in that question. Pulling her kunai from the training post Anko motioned for him to attack. Naruto hesitated for a half second and then lunged forward, completely wild. Anko struck perfectly, using the ring on the end of the kunai to hit his throat.

The result was he fell on his ass, choking slightly. Grinning Anko could not help but narrow her eyes. "That's the secret runt. Even if you came at me another way it'd be the same result, because to attack is to run into your opponent. Shifting to the side lets you strike in a way that they can't read or expect."

"W-What?" Naruto asked blankly.

"Do this, without telegraphing your moves and you'll be one step above everyone from your year." Anko grinned before gesturing toward his post. "Try it. Remember to stay close, pretend your dodging a jab. You push off at an angle with your lead foot at the same time you strike."

Anko moved back a half step, watching as he coughed and got back to his feet to do as she ordered. Amazingly he seemed to have the concept down better than the first move he practiced, but he still left a full foot between him and the post. "Closer!"

Naruto spared her a glare and then tried it again, this time so fast and hard that he buried his kunai in the post. Turning he glared at Anko who smiled faintly. "Now do that a hundred more times. Both sides. And for kami sake! Try to stop telegraphing your moves."

* * *

Each step was taken with a sharp pain, born mostly from exhausted muscles and aching joints. The head was bent forward, the neck unable to fully support its weight. It could, by all accounts, have been considered a good thing to be going home after nearly a full day of unending torture... 

...this was not taking into account that it was eleven at night and raining...

So he was drenched, filled with pain and walking through the only slum in Konoha. A slum that was noted for the high death rate for children and oblivious ninja. Yet Naruto went unaccosted. Why? He didn't care. He would worry about that tomorrow after he had slept for eight to twelve hours. Stumbling up the stairs of the practically condemned building that his apartment resided in -ignoring his calves and lower back that insisted on reminding him of what they had been through that day- he felt his eyes going in and out of focus.

Was it really only a few hours ago that he had been so loud and worried about why Anko was trying to kill him? Now here he was, swaying as he walked toward the battered door leading to his apartment, not caring one wit about the damn psychotic bitch.

All he wanted was to collapse on his soft, comfortable bed and sleep. Sleep until he regained his will to eat ramen. Kami, that was blasphemy! Surely the gods of all that was right, pure, good and just in this world would see his plight and help him. Naruto dreaded thinking about what it would be like to not have an apatite for his precious ramen. What if he never wanted ramen again?

It did not bare thinking about.

Leaning against the door, consciousness threatening to leave him at any moment even as he shivered from the wet clothing clinging to his skin, while he searched wearily for his keys. It took him a good twenty minutes to realize that he had placed them in his inside pocket and another five to remember which one belonged to his door. Grumbling Naruto fumbled with the lock for several moments before he finally opened the door and stepped into his cold and empty apartment.

In an automated motion he closed the door, locked it, and proceeded to his bed without even turning on the light. So what if he was alone and had no one to fuss over his state...he had grown up used to it. Maybe Iruka would care but he was not there now. So Naruto did not notice nor care...all he was interested in was falling blissfully into the arms of sleep. The second his knees hit the edge of the bed he collapsed forward, face buried in the pillow, not caring that blood and rain water were soaking from his clothes and hair into his sheets.

He was asleep in an instant, tossing and turning minutes later mumbling as his body started the long search for a position that allow him a comfortable nights sleep.

He tossed and turned, kicking blankets and stained pillows off the bed to sleep at an angle. Yet his body never found the proper position and when the blaring of his alarm clock tore Naruto from his slumber it felt as if the previous day had never ended. Every part of him demanded that he take the damned clock and smash it to dust.

Still his need for brutal destruction was put off by that fact that he was not alone. Much the way that prey can sense the precense of a predator, Naruto grew aware of a deadly presence in his room. A presence that had not been there when he had went to sleep. Specifically he felt cold death in the aura of his sensei who stood in the doorway of his room...

The unfairness of it all welled up and Naruto reacted by seizing the nearest item and hurtling it at her -his alarm clock had this unfortunate fate- as he sat up. He was caught completely by surprise when the clock smashed into the wall in the hallway as his sensei moved beside his bed, slamming the palm of her hand against his forehead. Naruto fell back, banging his head against the bed's headboard, as Anko narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.

"I'll give you credit for being adaptive," Anko ground out, her bloodshot eyes glaring at him. "But you're still slow as hell and have no damn sense."

"Bitch!" Naruto muttered under his breath rubbing the back of his head, his muscles groaning.

"Feh, Whatever runt. Hurry up and get your ass out of bed, we've got a long day of training."

"I just went to bed!" Naruto protested, only to flinch when Anko glared at him dangerously. "Fine!"

Satisfied Anko turned walking back toward the door only to stop and glance look back at him, her face scrunched up in disgust. "And take a shower. Now. And from now on, before you go to bed. For kami's sake! A ninja can not expect to hide from someone if they can smell you from a half a mile away."

"B-but..."

"If you don't, I will personally hold you under the water and then shave every last hair off you..." Anko narrowed her eyes. "**_Every. Last_**. **_One_**."

Naruto stared at her for a moment then, realizing that she was including the areas that Iruka had explained on his last birthday, blushed and choked in horror.

* * *

Two weeks of utter quiet, it was hard to believe. The village had become so peaceful since Anko had begun training Naruto. It seemed she only gave the boy time to eat, sleep, and train. Trouble making had become a luxury that he neither had time nor energy for any longer. This was a good thing. Wasn't it? 

The Sandaime sighed as he leaned back then stood, stretching as he walked over to his tobacco cabinet. To anyone watching him at that moment it would appear as if he was completely focused on preparing himself a pipe, but in truth his mind was far away. Gently tapping the pipe twice to settle the tobacco he struck a match and then with practiced precision held the small flame against the dried leaves drawing a slow breath.

Too fast would snuff out the young flames, too slow and the fragrant tinder would not light. Smiling as the tobacco began to smolder, he reflected on how well this paralleled the situation that weighed upon his mind.

Taking a long draw on his pipe he walked to the large window in his office which overlooked the Leaf Village. Two weeks ago he had been confident that apprenticing Naruto to Anko was in the best interests of both of them. Yet this had proven false, Iruka's concerns had become his own as he observed their training sessions through his viewing sphere.

It should have been the best for both of them, Naruto and Anko had walls that existed between them and the other members of the village. Naruto had no family or clan, the sole survivor of a terrible attack on the hospital, viewed with a loathing.. mostly because of a tendency to pull the most ingenious, infuriating, and disrespectful pranks ever seen.

Anko, without family, tainted by an evil that was not her own making. Being younger than nearly everyone, being better than every other Genin other than Kakashi...isolated and forged into the ultimate killing tool for Orochimaru. A tool that when its usefulness had been exhausted was cast aside with a callousness lacking any trace of humanity.

They should have been the perfect medicine for each other, should have helped each other...and yes the boy's skills had improved greatly under her tutorage but it was also clear to the Sandaime that his humanity was suffering.

Turning to his chair he sat down, puffing tiny clouds from his pipe. Orochimaru had trained Anko to kill her humanity and replace it with an ability to serve him effectively, without questions. Now, from what he could tell, Anko was using the same training on Naruto. Sandaime shook his head again, a feeling of weariness settling on his shoulders.

Why did he have to do this? Why wasn't the Yondaime still alive, this was suppose to be his job. Sandime was a tired old man, he felt almost as if he was ready to crumble under the pressure. Groaning the Sandaime leaned back in his chair and located his cup of green tea while turning his mind to the security reports splayed out over his desk.

Sipping at the bitter drink he allowed his eyes to scan over a report from the ANBU team in Wind Country. It outlined, in no uncertain terms, the dangerous nature of one of the Sand Village's expected Chunin hopefuls; Gaara of the Desert.

Normally, the boy would not be a problem; a few ANBU teams slipped into the Chunin exam to keep an eye on him...yet this would prove impractical due to whispers from Rain about the possibility of renewed hostility from the Stone Village. Adequate monitoring of this situation would require a substantial portion of his ANBU forces.

Still Sandaime could not ignore Gaara. Kazekage's son or not, a loose cannon demon vessel was not a good thing to have within one's Hidden Village. Due to the dignitaries who would be in attendance, he had no choice but to put a few teams of ANBU into the crowd during the final exam. If he could avoid that for the earlier exams though...that would be placing a lot of faith in the abilities of the Leaf ninja who would be administering and monitoring these exams. Most of them would be from the Chunin ranks so he would have to make sure they had experienced leadership who would be capable of dealing with anything unexpected that might arise.

Who could he select? Kakashi, of course, would be needed to organize and lead the response to the Stone threat. However it should be possible to arrange his presence during the final exam. He could also, probably, arrange to have Ibiki for the first exam. But then who could he assign to the second? Anko had done it in the past, quite successfully.

Well, if Anko was free of other duties she would be perfect for the second exam. The third exam would not need a high ranked Jonin to lead it, it would have ANBU and at least a Kage present as well as his own presence. Thinking of the Chunin exam, how was Naruto going to participate? Sandaime frowned and tabled those thoughts for the moment and set his tea to the side. He had so much to deal with, it would not be so bad if he was just a few years younger...

"Kami, please give me the strength and keep it peaceful for just a little while longer." Sandaime muttered in prayer closing his eyes.

* * *

"Alright, I want you to come at me with everything you have." Anko said, standing in the clearing while stretching. "I mean everything, taijutsu, weapons, ninjutsu...everything, including an intent to kill." Seeing Naruto's blank stare she narrowed her eyes. "Or are you a coward like that Uchiha?" 

Seeing the way Naruto reacted Anko smiled and quickly jumped into the trees, avoiding the first rain of weapons. Somehow she had thought comparing him to that Uchiha would make him angry enough to attack. Chuckling she slipped her kunai from the forearm holster and waited for the blond. Seconds later he was charge toward her, putting the tree climbing training from earlier too good use.

The sound of metal clashing filled the air, followed shortly by an orange and yellow blur leaping back to land on the balls of his feet. Across from him, in a casual stance, stood Anko, studying his posture and the way he breathed. After a few minutes she narrowed her eyes, while she was more than pleased with his stamina, his posture and movements were still disappointing.

They had only exchanged a few brief kunai blows and he had still gotten his ass kicked, but he was not doing as nearly as horrible as he had two weeks ago. It was obvious to her why, Naruto revealed himself in each of his movements and in the way he handled his weapons in combat...he was starting to use a rough and bastardized versions of her taijutsu style.

_He was mimicking her!_

Anko did not know whether to be pleased or not, after all her moves came directly from one of the most feared ninja in the world and it was nice to see them continue. Of course they were being bastardized in such away that it was almost an insult, he moved without any of her fluidity and he wasn't handling his kunai correctly.

"You flick your wrist." Anko said suddenly, then seeing she had his attention demonstrated by flicking her wrist to send a kunai into the branch he was standing on. "When you throw a kunai, hold it with your thumb and first two fingers then flick your wrist. Like a snake striking. Quick and sudden."

"Err...Ok?" Naruto said looking at her cautiously.

"If you're going to bastardize my style of fighting at least get that right." Anko grinned and produced another kunai from the inside of her jacket sleeve. "Now shall we continue...or should I go see if Sasuke wants to train?"

Anko cackled to herself seeing the way his eyes narrowed at that jab. Her humor faded when he suddenly threw his kunai at her...this time as she had just shown him. Dodging to the right she moved quickly, pushing off the branch to go higher.

Damn, he was a fast learner when pissed.

Naruto was hot on her heels, struggling to follow her lead. Anko grinned, suddenly twisting around and darting back down toward him left, then right, then another left. She caught him by surprise and could see the shock on his face as she slipped through his defense and slammed a fist into his stomach. Naruto plummeted, the air escaping him along with his kunai.

Without missing a beat Anko retrieved the bladed weapon and landed daintily on a branch and watched as he continued to plummet until he managed to slap a hand against a tree branch and jerk himself to a stop with the application of Chakra. Good, he had managed to figure out how to use the tree climbing exercise for something other than climbing.

Anko considered him and the promise...there was no doubt that he had promise...but he was so haphazard when he fought.He regularly got his ass kicked by her, even when she was not really trying, and from what she had heard Naruto was far below everyone else in his class in over all ability in terms of skill and knowledge...should she give him a few pointers about her style?

If so then why not hand him a jutsu or two? Nothing to dangerous and definitely nothing her _sensei _had taught her, but he needed something. "Maybe the Kanashibari no Jutsu?" Anko muttered to herself watching as Naruto pulled himself all the way onto the branch, breathing heavily.

"Is that all you got? I thought a future Hokage would have more."

Naruto growled at that and pushed his way upright glaring at her before he created several Kage Bunshins. "GET HER!" Anko could not help but smirk, flipping backwards before plummeting straight to the ground. Seconds before the clones rebounded and charged Anko produced a shuriken launching her attack.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Seconds later the Naruto clones were caught in a barrage of cloned shuriken. Seeing Naruto alone and breathing even heavier Anko smirked. "You know, if your gonna keep using that technique you need to add some variety to it."

"Bitch!" Naruto shouted launching himself downward.

Anko moved quickly, leaving behind an exploding note that went off seconds before he landed. Grinning Anko landed to watch as the smoke cleared to reveal Naruto who was sprawled against a tree. His face was scratched from the hail of rock and dirt, Anko even felt smug about timing that so perfectly.

"You'll have to do better than that." Anko taunted, shaking her head.

Naruto sat up, coughing then looked up eyes narrowed. "You mean like this?" Naruto retorted throwing a kunai, which was soon joined by ten clones suddenly charging from every direction launching kunai of their own. Anko cursed, dodging back and working her way through the rain of deadly metal.

Left, right, back flip, Kawarimi with a Naruto clone, double jump, another Kawarimi and she was clear. Not bad, obviously he was attempting to create a version of the technique that she had used earlier. Still, she was slightly disappointed that he had not been able to push her harder. Crouching on ground she focused on the boy and his clones, spread out in the branches and on the ground, twenty or so yards away from her.

Anko Frowned a little while watching as the Naruto she took to be the original panted leaning against the a tree. She had almost decided to finish him when she sensed a new mass clones descending from overhead. Looking up she saw ten more clones hopping down through the branches above each holding a kunai of their own and ready to strike. Anko grinned, happy to see that Naruto was not out of the fight yet, and prepared to move when a pair of legs and arms wrapped around her from behind once more.

Surprise filling her face, she ran her eyes over the groups of clones above and in front of her. Weapons drawn they were clearly preparing a mass kunai barrage. Ok, now he was starting to impress her. Timing it carefully she preformed Kawarimi yet again, putting the Naruto holding her in front just as all the weapons from ahead and above rained through her previous position.

As chaos reigned Anko darted into the trees once more, cursing at how sloppy she had been to get caught like that. She had relaxed her guard and he had taken advantage of that. Part of her wanted to be proud, the other part wanted to slit his throat. Anko was so lost in her thoughts she almost missed a clone decending from overhead with a kunai in hand.

The key word was almost. Anko quickly altered her movement, darting inside the clones guard for a strike only to find an explosive note on his chest. CRAP! Grabbing the clones arm she used the follow through as momentum to clear the explosion field. Landing on a branch she narrowed her eyes, was it her or was he getting better at using those damn things.

Glancing down at the real Naruto, she noted that he was gathering his clones together preparing for a new attack. "Better luck next time." Anko said happily, watching as his army growled and prepared a corrinated attack. That would be dangerous, if she counted correctly he had close to twenty-five clones now...he could easily overwhelm her with sheer numbers and his spontaneous plans for how to use those clones.

Hell, he'd gotten her so distracted with the massive attacks that it had been all she could do to notice the attack coming from that clone bomb and avoid it.

What truly boggled her mind was the sheer amount of chakra required to pull off all of those clones and to continue fighting. The good news however was that he definitely a qualified for the Kanashibari and the second he -and his clones- started the move Anko molded the chakra. Thankfully it didn't require words or seals, it relied on control and mentally concentrating the chakra into 'spears'.

Seconds later she was hurtling said 'spears' into Naruto's body, aiming for every pressure point and muscle group that she knew of. This would have the desired effect of not only freezing his body and making it impossible to move but cause him a tremendous amount of pain.

It also disrutped his chakra, thus as one his entire army of clones disappeared in a massive puff of smoke.

Anko grinned seeing him lay on his back, face registering the shock and pain of having the Kanashibari slammed into his system. "And that, punk is how you beat a wannabe Hokage." Anko called down humorously while Naruto seemed to take offense at that and his muscles trembled from his attempts at movement.

Chuckling Anko dusted her hands off, dropping to the ground before wandering toward him lazily. "Now, don't strain to hard ok? You might pull something..." Seeing his continued efforts she could not help but laugh. He was stubborn, hell he was probably as stubborn as she was. "Ok baka, listen up. This is called the Kanashibari no Jutsu, sometimes called the Paralyzing Technique. You won't break free for five minutes..."

Seeing the way he stopped struggling she patted his cheek almost affectionately. "Smart boy. Now then...I want you to listen carefully cause I'm only going to explain how it works once. To use this technique you'll have to learn how to mold, then project chakra outwards and hit your target. Think of creating kunai out of chakra and aiming for the pressure points and muslce groups."

Standing she smoothed out of her jacket before blowing him a kiss teasingly. "Ok sweetie, you have fun out here...I need to get some breakfast." That said Anko turned, whistling happily as she strolled leisurely back toward the training gates that led into the Village market place.

She would save the fact that if it was held any longer than five minutes he would die for a later day.

* * *

Naruto was tired. This was a very unusual situation mainly because Naruto **_never _**got tired, in the entire history of Konoha the blond had never been tired. Yet here he was, sprawled out on the ground in his blood splattered jumpsuit, chin on his chest snoring something horrible. 

This prompted more than one person passing by the training grounds to wonder if a psychotic squirrel was loose in the woods. The truth was Naruto had decided that he was more than entitled to a quick nap. So instead of using the 'private training' time as Anko had intended he had fled the area and found a secluded training place for his nap.

It was even, by Naruto standards, a good nap...ramen and Sakura were involved so how could it not be?

That is until someone's foot came into sharp contact with his side. This met with a loud curse from the blond who stared up at the asshole who had just kicked him awake, not bothering to hide just how pissed he was at being disturbed from his nap. It took him a moment to realize that the figure that had kicked him awake was dressed in a gray fur-lined jacket and had a white puppy perched on his head.

This did not induce him into a polite frame of mind. "Kiba! What the hell do you want?!"

Much to Naruto's continued displeasure it was Sasuke that answered him. "For you to leave."

Jumping to his feet Naruto glared at the raven haired boy who was leaning against a tree, with a pink haired girl hovering nearby. "Oi! Don't you tell me what to do."

"Feh." Sasuke muttered, closing his eyes. Naruto glared at the boy then snorted crossing his arms, before noticing Sakura -how could he have missed that lovely shade of pink?!- standing near by.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said excitedly moving toward her. "Hey, would you like to go get some ramen?"

"Sure." Sakura said brightly and Naruto thought he was going to die from surprise.

"Really?!"

"No!"

Naruto hung his head, he should not have been surprised. One day though, one day Naruto would prove to her that Sasuke was nothing. That he, Uzumaki Naruto Hokage-to-be, was so much better that there was no comparing them! That Sakura belonged with him and not a flashy pretty boy.

"Hey, Naruto, why are they still letting you wear that?" Kiba suddenly asked and the blond blinked turning to look at his 'friend'. Kiba, seeing the confusion on Naruto's face gestured at the forehead protector. "Isn't it a crime to wear one when you're just some villager?"

"Oi!" Naruto grew indignant at that, reaching up to adjust his most prized possession. "I passed! I've got a sensei and everything...well she's a psychotic bitch..."

"'Cha, they didn't even put you on a team, liar." Sakura interjected, scowling at him. "You should just take it off..."

"Bah! I'm a ninja and I'll wear it however long I want!" Naruto retorted glaring at them both, before curiosity set in. "So...why are you guys here?"

"Our sensei told us to be her here." Kiba said, grinning. "Normally I wouldn't listen to anything a teacher had to say but, Kurenai-sensei is really good. And she's hot too! She's got these long legs and...oh gods...look you can tell she's all woman."

"Kiba!" Sakura said threateningly and Naruto snickered before glancing at an annoyed looking Sasuke.

Naruto scowled...thinking that it would not be long before he could beat that bastard's ass. Sasuke could be as _cool _as he wanted, but Naruto would kick his ass soon enough and then Sakura would notice him and that old ape of a Hokage would bow before him and...

Naruto did not realize he was giggling -GIGGLING!- until Sasuke glared at him and, his tone harsh, inquired, "What's so funny loser?"

Naruto could have been smart -as his common sense screamed- but instead he gloated the truth, as he saw it, completely missing the groan from Kiba and the shouts of indignation from Sakura. "Me kicking your ass!"

"You're right, that is funny. You couldn't beat me if you tried. You couldn't even put a finger on me."

Naruto's face shifted from amusement to outright anger. "I can too."

"You dimwitted idiot. I'm an Uchiha and while you're just a dead last loser." Sasuke retorted coolly.

"That doesn't mean anything. You're just a bunch of hot air you pretty boy prick!" Naruto retorted angrily.

"Why you!" Sakura shouted, starting forward angrily with her knuckles cracking. Her progress was denied however when Kiba managed to grab her around the waist and and restrain her -which was no small feat-.

"Feh, what do I care..." Sasuke starting to turn away, only to freeze mid-turn at Naruto's next shout.

"Coward!" Naruto roared. When Sasuke turned back to him Naruto continued, "I'm right aren't I? All that big talk about how great you are and how much of a loser I am and everything...you're just a damn coward!"

"Shut up."

"Make me."

Naruto was not sure who took the first step, but suddenly they were barreling at each other, arms pulling back for their first punches. Naruto was not even sure why he had picked the fight, except maybe he wanted to impress Sakura...yet it was anything but impressive when they clashed and Sasuke drove his fist into Naruto's mouth.

Naruto reeled from the impact and for one brief moment they froze. Then Sasuke shifted his weight and sent a round-kick into his ribs. Naruto cried out as his feet left the ground from the blow and he went tumbling across the ground before skidding to a halt. Getting back to his feet quickly, Naruto tried to prepare an attack only to find Sasuke closing the gap with a punch.

Naruto felt a moment of panic and then...he felt something else. It was like an instinct and without thinking Naruto followed it, catching the punch and twisting his hips. Suddenly his hands were free and Sasuke was sent hurtling through the air. Putting a hand under him to catch the fall Sasuke flipped landing in a crouch. There was another moment of stillness and then Sasuke pushed off with surprising speed, scowling while shifting his weight for a punch.

Here again, Naruto's instincts kicked in and, as he had practiced with Anko, he slightly shifted his body and moved his head to the side to avoid the punch aimed at his face. Before Sasuke could register this fact Naruto was on the inside of his defenses and was lashing out with a palm-heel strike aimed at Sasuke's jaw. Naruto was rewarded with a satisfying crack as his hand made contact.

The blow did not have the same amount of power as Anko's had, but this was due to Naruto being unable to put his body into it. Still it was enough to force the Uchiha to tumble backwards from the force of the blow. Sasuke rolled to his feet and lept backwards, putting space between them while his eyes narrowed and began to evovle into the Shariagan.

Naruto was past thinking, relying entirely on his new found recently developed instincts. Naruto felt his fingers twitching towards his kunai holster, not thinking but knowing he was going to kill the bastard. However the second and, potentially deadly, encounter was cut short when a hail of kunai came crashing down around Naruto.

As the deadly rain stopped the familiar form of Anko came hurtling out of the tree limbs over head to land in a crouch, with her trench-coat billowing around her, a few yards away from the children. "I can't leave you alone for one minute can I?" Anko asked humorously, winking at Naruto.

Naruto for his part was consumed in a brief internal battle; part of him demanded he keep attacking while another part told him to stop. It was settled without a final decision when another woman, dressed in white and red with feathered hair and freaky red eyes, landed in the clearing behind Anko.

"OH! Kurenai! How nice to see you again." Anko chirped, as she turned to look at the scowling woman.

Kurenai's gaze swept over her Genin and then over to Naruto -who stuck his tongue out- before focusing on Anko. "So this is your..._student_?"

"Yep! A bit of a wild child ain't he." Anko happily replied, eying the Genin behind Kurenai. "Oooh, you get a smelly Inuzuka, a worthless Haruno and a stuck up Uchiha! I'm s_oooooo _jealous."

Naruto could not decide if he should laugh or not, on the one hand she had insulted Sakura yet on the other hand Anko had also insulted -quite rightly!- Sasuke...it was a tough call and he settled for merely grinning smugly at Sasuke.

"I hope your not taking pages from your sensei's book." Kurenai said evenly, eyes darting to Naruto and then back to Anko's face.

Naruto, as confused about the question as he was, could not help but notice the deadly undercurrent in his sensei's response. "If I have Kurenai...you'll be the first to know." That said Anko turned to stare at him, her eyes narrowed. "We're leaving Naruto."

Nodding Naruto hurried to join follow his sensei as she moved through the trees, away from the training area.

* * *

"Kurenai-sensei, who was that?" Sakura asked after a moment, free of Kiba's grasp and now fussing over a sulking Sasuke. 

"Someone who should **not **be teaching. _Ever_." Kurenai answered sharply.

"She's hot though." Kiba said just beginning to recover from the catatonic stupor that it had fallen into when he first saw Anko's attire. "Nice legs..."

Kureani ignored the comment. Instead, scowling, lost in thought and memories of Anko.

To say that Kurenai's relationship with Anko was a difficult one would have been an understatement, one akin to describing the Hokage as an above average ninja. In fact if Anko were to die Kurenai would make sure that she was the first in line to dance upon her grave. This was not because Kurenai was a spiteful individual, generally she was considered one of the most reserved and professional ninja in the village, however her relationship with Anko was a special exception.

In her mind Anko was responsible for destroying two of the most important people in her life. The first had been one of her Genin teammates whom Anko had ambushed during a Chunin exam. Anko's attack had been brutal and overwhelming, a combination of genjutsu and taijutsu that had left her teammate so mentally scarred and physically crippled that he could not continue as a ninja and ultimately took his own life a few years later.

The second was her own older brother during his Jonin exam. Kurenai did not know the details because no explanation had ever been given apart from a statement that Anko had not acted outside of the parameters of the exam.

That seemed to be the trend with Anko, she never acted outside the parameters' and while Kurenai knew that killing and dieing was a part of being a ninja she could not understand Anko. The woman killed without mercy, without compassion and at times Kurenai even wondered if maybe Anko took a sick pleasure in their suffering.

That was why, deep down Kurenai believed that the deaths of her friend and brother had been unnecessary, nothing more than attempts to fulfill Anko's twisted lusts.

Because of this Kurenai could never forgive Anko...not for what had happened and not for what she had just seen in that boy named, Naruto. She had seen the blond's hand drift toward his kunai, a stupid child's argument had nearly ended in an attempt to kill. Kurenai stopped and scowled, knowing the real truth of the matter; it would not have been an attempt. Naruto would have killed Sasuke.

Why?

Because Naruto was using the Hebi Style, even if it did look bastardized, and that was one of the Leaf's five secert taijutsu styles. No good came from anyone using that style either, it was forged and created in blood...the blood of 'rogue' Uchiha's and Hyuuga's at the hands of the Leaf's biggest traitor.

Kurenai would have to alert the Hokage to the fact that Anko was creating another cold-blooded killer, that Mitirashi Anko was walking the same path as her sensei, Orochimaru, that the former apprentice was creating a new generation. Kurenai prayed that the boy could be saved from that fate. She did not blame him and would help him if she could, still the biggest problem was making the Hokage see that Anko was not someone who should be training Genin.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked softly and Kurenai made a indistinct noise. "Umm...our mission?"

"Oh!" Kurenai said, composing herself and turning to face her team, pulling their mission scroll. "It's a C-ranked mission, but I think you guys are ready for it. We've been hired by a smaller country named Wave, they have no Hidden Village of their own..."

"What are we suppose to do?" Kiba asked excitedly and Kurenai glanced at Sasuke, feeling her heart sink with the dark way he was staring in direction that Naruto had went.

"Just escort a bridge builder back to his home, and protect him until he finishes his current job. A good mission to get our feet wet with." Kurenai answered, looking away from the dark haired boy. Kurenai could not risk letting the boys fight again, at least not until she had spoken with the Hokage and something was done to save Naruto from the dark murderous path that he was starting to walk.


	5. Chapter 4: B Ranked

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 4:  
-_B-Ranked_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Silence reigned as the figure, dressed in orange and blue, darted from tree limb to tree limb looking for somewhere to hide. It seemed like a never-ending search; he had hidden most everywhere in this section of forest at some point over the last month. Seriously, Anko was going have to let him expand the area of this 'game' if she wanted a challenge. Coming to a stop he looked around, mind racing as he tried to think of where to go. 

The hollow tree, no he'd used that day before yesterday. Those bushes? No, he'd used those last week and they had poison ivy growing underneath them anyway...Like any good prey -he had no delusions of being a ninja right then- he sensed the murderous Anko closing in on him. He needed to find something and quick!

Lacking other options he jumped off the limb he had been perched on to another one and doubled back, praying that he could pass unnoticed beneath Anko. Naruto ducked down, lowering his speed and using a weak Henge to appear as a small squirrel. Maybe she would not notice him now; hopefully it would buy him the few seconds he needed to get past her and to a more suitable location.

He paused, acting like a squirrel watching as Anko passed overhead and then disappeared into the foliage. She'd missed him! Letting out a breath he let his Henge collapse, wondering why even after all this time he was still having a bit of a problem with it. The Sexy Jutsu -which Anko had approved of- he could hold for an hour easily with very little effort, but any other type of Henge would only last for a few minutes at most without his complete concentration.

Shaking it off, realizing that he was still standing there in the open, he turned and started moving. Silent as possible he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, working to use his chakra to lessen the impact on the tree limbs as Anko had taught him. He still could not do that perfectly either, though she said he was doing better. Shaking his head he turned his attention back to his surroundings looking for a worthwhile place to hide.

Then, as if the kami were smiling, Naruto found a clearing where a beam of sunlight danced across the ground to cast delicate shadows over a large, white square rock. It even seemed to have something engraved on it, not that it mattered. All that mattered was that it was the only place he had not hidden in and thus the one place that Anko would never think of him trying to hide.

Darting down into the clearing, he ignored the writing and came to a rest against the shadow cloaked side of the white square stone. Now came the hard part, he had to try one of the two Jutsu's his sensei had taught him. Concentrating he slowed his breathing, attempting to 'think' like a stone. It was hard work, requiring a lot more control over his chakra than he thought he could ever manage, yet he managed to pull off the Meisai Gakure no Jutsu allowing his entire body to blend into the shape to match the form and color patterns of the stone.

Trying to control his breathing, he waited, wondering how many more minutes or hours he had until this game of 'Hide and Hunt' was over. Maybe this time he could win and she would let him have some time off. There were a few people that needed to be put in their place. Plus he really did not want to practice any more taijutsu with Anko, at least not until she forgave him for the laxatives he had added to her dango yesterday.

Frowning he forced his mind back onto the camouflage technique he was using. There was a snap of twig and he panicked, causing his technique to waver. Quickly he forced it back into place. Clenching his eyes shut he prayed that it was not Anko that was approaching, or that if it was he would not be beaten to a bloody pulp.

"Hmmm..." A male voice said, "Oh well."

Breathing a bit easier, Naruto closed his eyes. As long as it was not Anko, he should not have to worry too much.

"Shisui...thank you." The male said blandly, before another twig snapped and he spoke again. "Anko-semapi?"

"Oh!" Anko's voice said, forcing Naruto to gulp, hold his breath and struggle to keep his technique in place. "Itachi, what are you doing here?"

"Visiting the Cetpotph." Itachi answered, a note of curiosity entering his voice. "Is there something you are looking for?"

"Heh, just an annoying little prick." Anko said, happily. "Short, blond hair, rude as hell, wears a gaudy orange outfit. Seen him around?"

"No." Itachi responded, "Is this that Uzumaki?"

"How'd you know?"

"I was in the forest when he defeated Mizuki."

"Ah! Well, let me know if you see him around...I need to kick his ass." Anko chirped before the sound of her taking off back into the forest reached Naruto. Once he was sure Anko was really gone, the blond let out a loud breath then realized that the man was still there!

Naruto clenched his eyes, praying that the man had not noticed. All he needed was for this Itachi to tell Anko where he was.

"...if you over concentrate on that technique it fails horribly." Itachi said blandly before taking off as well. Naruto could not help but let his camouflage technique crumble in shock. The man had known he was there the whole damn time! Then it dawned on him, Anko had never found him! Yes! He'd win this time for sure!

"Hah! In your face you psychotic bitch!" Naruto muttered under his breath, jumping to his feet.

"In my face?" Anko asked curiously from behind him.

Naruto couldn't help but whimper.

* * *

Anko very was happy, whistling a tune while twirling a kunai around her finger. Today was going to be the day, after a full month of training and torturing...today she would collect her promised B-ranked mission. Probably something relatively simple considering that this would be the first for Naruto, but nothing too easy. Maybe she would collect more than one, that way when they finished one off she could move them right on to the next? 

Nah, best take things one at a time.

Entering the Hokage Tower she glanced around and then nodded, heading past the rows of desks and toward the mission assignment hall. The first thing she noted -besides the fact that almost all the male Genin were trying to eye her body- was that an awful lot of teams were present. Was there some kind of problem with the mission assignments? Scowling she continued on her way, not paying attention to a single team as she passed them by.

Anko was not one to be denied, she had paid her dues, she had trained Naruto to the best he could achieve in a month...and now she should have her damn mission! Reaching the doors, she found her way blocked by several ANBU members who were casually leaning against the walls, watching everyone. That did not bode well.

There was only one reason for ANBU to be present in the mission hall like this, there was a debriefing going on...which could take hours.

"Damn it." Anko muttered, glaring at the doors. Her thoughts were disturbed when the door to the Mission Hall opened and a harried looking Iruka stepped out into the hallway.

"Anko." The scared Chūnin said in surprise and then laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Hehehe...I suppose you're here for your mission?"

"...That would be a reason to at the Mission Hall, now wouldn't it?" Anko deadpanned.

"Er...right, well huh...the Hokage asked me to announce that all Genin Missions would be handed out upstairs in the back up Mission Hall..." Iruka smiled nervously and repeated the announcement for everyone else. Anko however did not move blocking Iruka's path as everyone else, grumbling, turned and headed for the stairs.

"Iruka-kun, I'd really like my mission now." Anko said, sweetly twirling her kunai once more.

"Uhh...that really wouldn't be fair-"

"I want a mission now." Anko said flatly, grabbing the kunai in mid-spin, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Uhhh...right, right!" Iruka stammered, retreating inside before returning with a stack of papers. Gulping Iruka quickly riffled through them before producing one and handing it to her. "HERE!"

Anko snatched it away, scanning the details then glared at him crumpling the paper. "No D-Ranked."

"B-but...you're ..." Iruka stopped, seeing the way she narrowed her eyes even more. "W-We have a few C-rank-"

"B." Anko said harshly. "I want a B-Ranked Mission, like I was promised."

"B-ranked?" Iruka repeated before scowling. "I'm not giving you a B-ranked mission."

Anko growled, leaning forward threateningly. "I. Want. A. B-Ranked. Mission."

Iruka narrowed his own eyes, leaning toward her holding his ground. "No."

"If I don't get one I am personally going to show you how exactly to skin someone alive." Anko promised, malice and killing intent radiating off her.

"I. Am. Not. Giving. Your. Team. A. B-Ranked. Mission!" Iruka said, lifting his chin defiantly.

"Why not?" Anko asked, her voice still threatening. She would have loved to shove a kunai through his throat and just take the mission herself but...that would be noticed and she really did not feel like getting bloody.

"Naruto couldn't possibly be ready for one." Iruka answered steadily. "Besides which we don't have ANY B-Ranked missions right now."

"I know my teammate better than you. If I say he can handle B-ranked, he can handle one." Anko stated evenly leaning back to glower at the scared Chūnin, surprised that he would actually have enough backbone to stand up to her.

"We might have one at noon." Iruka said slowly, not breaking eye contact with her. "But you will have to get it from the Hokage directly. I will not assign it."

"Fine." Anko said, then smiling turned and walked away whistling and twirling her kunai once more.

* * *

The sun shone bright in the sky as errant clouds drifted across the vast expanse of blue. It was the sort of afternoon could be said to have inspired the notion of the midday nap. Near the edge of a training area, resting on a slopping bed of comfortable grass, was a dark haired boy. 

With his arms behind his head and legs crossed near the ankles he looked for all the world like he was sleeping.

Indeed, this could be given further credence by the fact that other than a few bird songs the only noise was the near sleep rhythm of his breathing. A casual observer might even think that this child was some sort of master in the art of relaxation, so perfect was the setting and all indications of concern and anxiety completely absent from his body.

But then, even the thunderheads at the edge of a thunderstorm will appear serene when viewed from a distance.

Stifling a yawn, the boy stared up dispassionately at the thin wisps of clouds overhead, wondering as always why clouds could have such trouble free lives. Cloud watching had always been one of this favorite past times, a welcomed relief for a lazy child from his daily tasks, however these days the boy's mind was so troubled that even this beloved escape could not help.

In Nara Shikamaru's life, up to this point, two things had been discovered that could truly motivate this notoriously lazy child: his mother's anger and the welfare of his friends.

Just over a month ago he had, in a moment like this, reflected upon his future and correctly predicted that his graduation from the ninja academy would reduce his exposure to the first of these forces. Not that his mother treated him any differently, now he simply had a better reason to avoid home.

He had not, however, anticipated the effect graduating would effect the second. For some reason the Fates, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to assign him to a team of fellow Genin...made up of two pliant introverts and a sensei whose laziness rivaled his own.

He felt a mixture of annoyance and relief when he considered his teammates. One was Akimichi Choji whom he had known since he was a child and who he considered his closest friend, yet Choji rarely expressed interest in or opinions on anything non-food related. The other was Hyuuga Hinata, a girl so timid, shy and apparently insecure that her voice never rose above a whisper.

As for their sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, the man expressed a firm instructional belief that the best way to 'teach' was to leave his students to their own devices, allowing them work through situation on their own and thus learn from the mistakes they made. Shikamaru had to admit that he was impressed by the Jōnin's cleverness.

This _'sink or swim'_ pedagogy left the lazy man with very few responsibilities, only requiring him to become directly involved with his students if the situation absolutely necessitated it. From what Shikamaru had seen a situation meeting his sensei's requirements for intervention would probably mean the near imminent death of at least one of his teammates.

Because of this Shikamaru, who had always desired a simple life and would have been quite content as a baker or a store keeper -if only explaining the decision to his mother would not have been so troublesome-, found himself as de facto leader of his Genin team.

Damnit, he thought to himself, allowing his concentration to momentarily slip as a string of colorful curses drifted through his mind. Why couldn't a more natural leader like Shino have been put on his team? Or even one of those bossy, noisy girls, Sakura or Ino? Either of them would have lept at the opportunity to tell people what to do.

Instead, during his precious cloud watching time, he was motivated, compelled even, to think about his teams strengths and weaknesses and to try to devise ways to ensure that none of them would be hurt or killed during their missions. Grinding his teeth, Shikamaru began thinking through methods that they could use to signal each other without risk of detection.

Needless to say his mood grew steadily darker.

Why did he have to be the leader?

This train of thought was interrupted by an overly loud voice calling his name. Shikamaru lifted a hand in front of his face to block the sun and stare up at a grinning blond dressed in orange.

"Naruto..." While not the most bothersome thing in the academy, the orange clad boy had definitely been within the top ten.

"Oi, Shikamaru! What are you doing out here alone?" Naruto asked happily plopping down beside him.

Sighing Shikamaru looked back at the clouds. "Asuma-Sensei said to meet here."

"Huh? For training?" Naruto asked, reclining beside Shikamaru, his hands behind his head. "I'm getting sick of it, all this damn training! I mean, I thought we were done learning things after the academy you know?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes, manfully repressing his groan. If only Asuma spent his time training them then maybe he would not need to worry so much. Then his mind started turning over what the boy next to him was saying, how he was rattling on and on about 'training'.

Wait...Naruto did not have a team, how could he have a sensei and be 'training'?

"This is troublesome." Shikamaru said finally, cutting the blond off at last. "Naruto, everyone knows you don't have a team or a sensei. Pretending that you do and that you are continuing your career as a ninja is pointless."

"I'm not pretending!" Naruto shouted, sitting up quickly glaring down at him. "Anko's insane and may be trying to kill me, but she is still my sensei and teaching me stuff. All this damn taijutsu, and weapons, and chakra control training!"

Sighing again Shikamaru closed his eyes, wondering why the fates had devised a new way to torture him this morning. Naruto clearly did not know how fortunate he was. No parent to force him into things, no team mates to worry about, now that he was free of the academy he could go and live a nice, simple, trouble free life.

Yet he insisted on holding onto this troublesome delusion. "Naruto, first I've never heard of this 'Anko' and second...if you really had graduated from the academy, you would have a team and would have been on several troublesome missions by now."

"I did...huh?"

Shikamaru let out a heavy breath opening his eyes, obviously it would fall to him to try and get this boy to understand a simple matter. "Everybody has been going on missions for the last month. Basically just D-rank ones now, little errands and tasks around the village, but I expect that they will get more troublesome soon." A bit of apprehension crept into his voice at the end just thinking about his team on such a mission.

"As troublesome as it is, they are required. And so I don't see how you could spend the month just training. Since I have seen every other Genin from our class, numerous times, either at Mission Hall or in the village performing their assignments you A) almost definitely never became a Genin and B) are a horrible and troublesome liar."

"B-but I am a Genin and do have a sensei!" Naruto said jumping to his feet. "She's been trying to kill me for most of the past month but she's taught me a couple of jutsus and, and..."

Shikamaru shook his head, tossing a small stone into the sky in mild frustration. If only his real sensei was half as motivated as Naruto's imaginary one seemed to be. This entire morning was proving to be much too troublesome.

"...Have you been on a mission?" Shikamaru finally asked interrupting Naruto. When Naruto shook his head, Shikamaru sighed. "Then it's obvious you're not a real Genin. It's troublesome to say the same thing over and over..."

"...Everyone really has been going on missions?" Naruto asked in a small voice.

"Yes."

"Including that bastard Sasuke?"

"Yes. His team was even assigned an incredibly troublesome C-ranked mission." Involuntarily Shikamaru shivered at the though. C-rank missions carried a good chance of real combat, a prospect he dreaded facing with his team. "They left the village nearly two weeks ago to go to Wave Country, as body guard to a bridge builder or something."

Finishing Shikamaru paused, his mind wandering again. As their leader, would he be able to keep Choji and Hinata safe when they were assigned missions like this? Lost in these thoughts it was not until several minutes had passed that he opened his eyes to find that he was alone. Sighing Shikamaru turned his eyes back to the sky and tried to relax.

However his mind returned to the signaling method that he had been working out earlier. His teammates would be arriving soon and he needed to have it ready for them. They would not have much time train before they would have to go to Mission Hall to get their days assignment and he did not expect his sensei to have anything to teach them.

Scowling, he threw another stone into the sky as he muttered quietly to himself, "Troublesome...this is all much too troublesome..."

* * *

Sighing Anko finished her dango and then, swinging her legs sent the stick sailing into the wall before her completing the kanji for brutality. Hopping off her post she stretched then turned, heading once more into the Hokage Tower where she was promptly greeted by an office worker. 

"E-excuse me," The young woman stammered, gulping. "H-hokage-sama asked u-us to tell y-you that he wants to see y-ou." That said the woman recoiled covering her head. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Anko blinked, then sighed and shoved past the girl heading for the stairs. She was really going to have to see about clearing up this misconception that she was a cold blooded killer. That was her _sensei_, not her damn it!

Grumbling about 'stupid people that couldn't tell the difference' Anko stormed up the stairs and then, without her usual flamboyance, started for the Hokage's office. Pushing the door open she entered the room, flopping into a chair in front of the old man's desk. "You wanted to see me?"

"Indeed." Sandiame said, coming through a door that led off to the Hokage's private room. Anko watched as he crossed the room and sat down heavily behind his desk, for once not smoking his pipe. "So...a month."

Anko blinked frowning. "Yea..."

"You have been teaching Naruto for a full month, alone and unsupervised." Sandaime said, before he selected a thin folder and opened it. "Do you really believe he is ready for B-ranked mission?"

"Yea." Anko said carelessly, frowning a little more. "Why'd you drag me all the way up here?"

"Because two people have made their reservations known..." Sandaime said, eyes calculating before they returned to the folder. "One, of course is worried for the boy's welfare...both mentally and physically. The other one, I suspect, is mainly acting on old grudges..."

Sitting upright Anko narrowed her eyes. "What kind of 'reservations'?"

"Well, I believe Kurenai-chan worded it as 'Anko-san absolutely should not be endangering a young Genin with teaching methods that are learned from her sensei. Naruto-kun has already demonstrated an aggressive personality and under her tutelage this could become both more pronounced and dangerous.'" Sandaime answered, reading from the folder. Looking up he raised an eyebrow. "Care to put my mind at ease?"

"That stupid little..." Anko muttered, her glare intensifying on the folder before she looked at the Hokage. "Yea, Naruto's a lil prick with a short fuse. I'm trying to channel that to more productive means."

"I see." Sandaime nodded, looking back at the folder. "As for Iurka-kun, he is merely addressing the fact that Naruto has been clearly agitated concerning you and a belief that you were trying to kill him. He is worried about the boy also, since he claims to have seen blood on Naruto's jumpsuit several times."

"...He calls me a 'psychotic bitch'...I break his nose...we're the prefect team." Anko said in exasperation before holding her hand out. "Look, can I just have my mission now?"

"Anko, please tell me that you are not rushing his training." Sandaime said leaning back in his chair. "I would hate to think that you would be risking his life in the hurry to return to high ranking missions."

"I'm not." Anko sighed, reaching up to rub at her temples. "Naruto is as ready as any Genin ever could be..."

"You do remember our deal correct?" Sandaime said selecting another folder, this one sealed, offering it to her. "You must keep Naruto-kun alive..."

"Yea, yea..." Anko said indifferently as she took the folder and broke the seal. Grinning she looked up at the Hokage snapping it shut. "Great! Well, we shouldn't be gone too long..." That said she turned and strode out of the room without waiting for a dismissal.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was known for being a very laid back person. So laid back that there were even rumors of certain _items_ of an illicit nature being responsible. The simple truth was, Kakashi was a laid back person much the same way that the Sandaime was serious and Naruto -the infamous trickster of the village- was loud. So dru-er...items of an illicit nature...were not involved. 

Unless you counted Icha Icha Paradise as such.

Kakashi still burned in a suppressed fury just remembering what it was like to have his precious book snatched away from him. That however is beside the point, what is the focus currently is that he is a very laid back person. That was at least until he heard Anko's plans from a still nervous Iruka, thus now he was every inch the ANBU Commander that he was suppose to be.

His precious book had been put up, his voice had become a bit rougher, more commanding. An ANBU had been dispatched immediately to keep an eye on Anko's Genin while two others watched her. Orders had been to observe and delay if needed until Kakashi could consult with the Hokage. This had proven more difficult than expected, since the Hokage's ANBU body guards had lost track of him.

Then again according to all of Kakashi's predecessors' accounts it was almost a requirement that a Hokage could disappear on them without notice.

After all they were Hokage for a reason.

Still, Kakashi managed to track the Sandaime down, finally. Kakashi found him standing on top of the Hokage tower, staring up at the face of the Yondaime, his red and white robe fluttering around him. How the ANBU acting as his guards had missed that he had no clue.

Kakashi made a mental note of checking their credentials once more.

With an extra burst of chakra he lept up the side of the building landing behind the Sandaime who didn't did not even look around at his sudden arrival. "Hokage-sama."

"What is it Kakashi-san?"

Standing upright from Kakashi approached the Hokage, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "I received word that you gave Anko-san a B-Ranked Mission."

"Ahh," The Hokage said then remained silent before speaking again. "Yes I did."

"May I ask which one was it exactly?"

"The diplomatic mission to the Country of Grass." Sandaime replied tiredly. "Iruka said that the Daimyō's ambassador is already at the rendezvous point, with his Samurai body guard and Kasigi Ryo, the Daimyō's three year old daughter."

"This could prove problematic." Kakashi said. He was a tad lost, why only two ninja? Not just any two either...but Naurto and Anko. Why would the Hokage want an unstable ninja and an equally unstable Genin to take the mission...It sounded like a very important, very delicate and dangerous mission.

There was no logical reason for the Hokage to want them to take the mission. Unless...the Hokage knew something he didn't, or at least believed he knew something that Kakashi didn't.

"Have you ever wondered why exactly the Yondaime was found in that nursery?" Sandaime inquired in a tired voice.

"Sensei was always strange." Kakashi admitted, raising an eyebrow. What did this have to do with Anko's antics.

"I have been wondering lately...there are some things that just do not add up." Sandaime muttered, finally turning to stare at Kakashi. "Let her and Naruto handle the mission but add whatever ANBU detail you think would be best. Just make sure they understand that they are to be an unseen and unnoticed presence, not to become involved unless there is no other option."

"Hokage-sama?"

"This way we get both Naruto and Anko out of the village." Sandaime snickered. "Peace at last."

Kakashi felt all of his seriousness melt away as he watched the powerful man disappear into the building. Well, better inform the others. Reaching into his pouch he produced the headset. "Kakashi to surveillance on Team Anko, stand down."

When he received conformation he glanced up at his old sensei then shook his head walking to the edge of the building. "Kakashi to Tracker Team Five...Target Team Anko. Orders are to monitor and intervene only if need merits."

Maybe he could find a nice tree to finish his precious Icha Icha in.

* * *

Anko entered the training area to find Naruto, who was for all intents and purposes trying to shatter a training post as he drove his punches into it. She stopped, taking a moment to watch his form noting that it was still sloppy and wild, yet underlying that was the beginning of a fluidity required for the taijutsu he had been bastardizing. 

Anko couldn't help but smile, knowing that the Sandaime had not been lying a month ago when he said that Naruto was unusual. Enormous chakra capacity, rapid recovery from almost anything she could inflict on him, he learned quickly as long as he was learning with his body -thus she had created 'Hide and Hunt'-.

Naruto had the potential to be an excellent ninja someday...though if it had been her sensei the boy would have been dead three days into training. If not for his lack of apparent potential, then for his total lack of finesse.

Then she saw how he was punching. How had that managed to escape her all this time? It was slow as hell and he was not even throwing it right. "Faster." Anko finally said, her tone empty. "Like a cobra when it strikes."

Naruto stopped for a moment, turning to stare and then scowling he turned back his fist snapping out in almost a blur.

"Didn't they teach you to punch in the academy?" Anko questioned harshly, before walking over to grab his fist. Jerking it up so that he could see Anko slapped his first two knuckles. "You hit with those and put your damn hip into it." Shoving his hand away she sounded disgusted.

"Now punch the damn post."

Naruto did as ordered, almost instantly wincing in pain. He started to say something then narrowing his eyes he punched the post again. And again. And again.

"Rotate your hand." Anko said after a moment, her tone neutral. "You're entire arm rotates, including your wrist, when you punch. Remember there's five parts to a punch; the chamber, direction, extension, rotation and rechamber."

"Stupid..." Naruto muttered and punched again, nailing the post as hard as he could.

Nodding in mild satisfaction she reached out to ruffle his hair only to have him duck and move away. He continued to glare at her, almost angrily...ahh, he was probably just tired of all this training.

"I've decided to cancel training for the day." Anko announced happily, then seeing his continued glare, started glaring herself. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Whooppee." Naruto grumbled, his tone trembling in anger. "I get time off from training! Big deal, not like I get to do anything else!" Anko remained silent, knowing that more would come without her prompting. "Damn it! How come I'm the only Genin that never goes out on missions? Huh?! Everybody thinks I'm lying about graduating, about being a Genin at all!"

"So what? Who cares what they think?"

"I'm tired of training! I want to go on a mission! I want to show everyone that I'm not just a dead last loser from the academy pretending to be a ninja!" Naruto shouted, his eyes almost watering.

"...You want to know why we've done nothing but train?" Anko retorted sharply. "It's because I was determined not to go on those damn D and C ranked missions. I wanted you good enough that we could do B and A ranked missions!"

"Sasuke's already-"

"What the hell does that matter?!" Anko cut him off angrily. "He's a stupid Uchiha, if you're going to have a rival you should pick one that doesn't have a family that are a bunch of thieves! Hell the only ones with the damn sharigan that are worth while are Itachi and Kakashi."

"But if I don't then Sakura-chan-"

"Wake up!" Anko shouted cutting him off yet again. "You aren't even friends with that girl! You'll never be friends, let alone her boyfriend! She's completely fixated on that lil Uchiha bastard that you're obsessing over! Grow up, we're ninja not villagers in school!"

When all Naruto could do was stare at her she snorted and produced the folder she'd gotten from the Sandaime. "Now, if this pre-teen 'emo' moment is over can you please focus on the fact that I've canceled training because I've got us a juicy B-ranked mission?"

"A mission!" Naruto suddenly shouted, apparently recovered from his depression. "Honest?"

"Yep! A real mission...just like they should be!" Anko cheered, "It took you a month to get ready but now we can do it!"

"Hehehehe...so what is the mission? We get to protect the Daimyō or a princess or fight a whole army?!" Naruto gloated, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

Anko stared at him for a moment, assessing if he was really ready for this. Once she committed there would be no turning back and if she was wrong she'd she would be stuck teaching in the academy...but the glint in his eyes reassured and she grinned. "It's a diplomatic mission to Grass Country. We'll be body guarding the Fire Daimyō's ambassador and his three year old daughter. We got a really great mission! People always want to kill princesses!"

"Right!" Naruto suddenly shouted, running out of the training area only to come back a few minutes later. "Err...you better lead the way!"

"Baka. You can't just run off on a mission like this with only the clothes on your back. Here." Fishing into one of the pockets of her trench coat she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Handing it to Naruto, she continued. "This is a list of basic equipment you are going to need. Get all the items on this list and meet me at the main gate in two hours."

Turning she paused to glance back at him with a smile that chased all the blood from his face. "Don't be late."

Then she was gone and he was alone.

* * *

Naruto hesitated outside the store entrance, he knew that this was not going to be easy, his childhood behavior had not made him many friends among the Konoha merchants -with the notable exception of the vendor of the village's finest ramen-. Could he help it if some of the villages merchants were cheats and that he truly enjoyed exposing them? 

Unfortunately the Konoha Merchants Guild was a tight knit organization where rumors spread easily. Stories of his exploits, some justified and many fabricated, were commonly traded by its members demonizing the boy to the extent that most of the village's merchants associated Naruto's patronage of their shops with imminent financial ruin.

Of course this made it very difficult for him to buy anything in the village, most shops would turn him away at the door or chase him out if he managed to sneak inside. Thus the things he owned were limited to primarily hand-me-downs and discarded items. Thus Naruto had become very skilled at living on what he had at hand, but this skill would not help him gather gather all the items on the list Anko had given him and he did not want to disappoint her.

He understood the ramifications of that would be more painful than any he might encounter sneaking into a store.

Closing his eyes and focusing Naruto flashed through the required hand seals, then with a puff of smoke he disappeared to be replaced by a lightly tanned, dark haired boy wearing a nondescript light brown shirt and khaki shorts. Unless they could detect the Henge, would suspect that this boy was in fact Naruto.

Carefully Naruto took a step forward, glancing at his appearance in the shop window. He had never been good at Henge and even though his skills had improved through his training with Anko it still took a tremendous amount of concentration for him to maintain the technique. Any momentary break in his focus would cause it to fail immediately.

Taking a breath Naruto entered the shop, very careful to make sure that he did not trip over or bump into anything. The room he entered was huge, a giant warehouse, containing every sort of ninja equipment imaginable, all shelved or hanging in neat aisles.

Naruto wanted to curse, it would take hours for him to find everything on Anko's damn list. Even if by some miracle he could hold his Henge that long Anko would undoubtedly find and kill him for being late long before he gathered everything.

"Hello! Welcome to Nin-mart!" Sang out a perky, cheery, high pitched voice from behind him which caused him to jump. He felt his Henge waver but managed to keep it intact. Turning slowly, focusing on maintaining his Henge, his gaze met a brightly dressed teenage sales girl who clearly possessed more enthusiasm for her job than any sane person should.

"Can I help you find something?"

Tentatively Naruto handed her the list that Anko had given him. Scanning it she frowned ever so slightly, eventually glancing up at the boy in question. "This is quite a list. What sort of budget do you have for this?"

Naruto, in response, pulled out his bulging frog wallet Gama-chan. Now while the Hokage's office provided a very modest stipend for orphans, years of involuntary frugal living had allowed Naruto to feed the money to Gama-chan until the wallet was ready to burst.

The sales-girl took the wallet her, frown vanishing as she saw the amount contained inside. Suddenly her eyes widened and a trace of drool appeared at the corner of her mouth. When she looked back at him, her eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought of the commission she would be receiving.

"This is wonderful. Oh, no, sorry. I mean you have made a wonderful choice in coming to Nin-mart where we happily service all your ninja needs at prices that can not be beaten."

Naruto grimaced inwardly, the sales-girl had been bubbly before but now she was practically gushing. As she lead him through the aisles, all the time going on about what was currently en vogue in ninja fashion, Naruto felt a sense of dread spreading through him.

"Now this collection of field packs just arrived last week. They are not among our budget line but the added value is well worth the extra price. Why look at these gorgeous little designer labels. Aren't they just to die for?"

Naruto wanted to tell the woman that he did not give a damn about designer labels, or ninja fashion -as long as it had orange in it that is- but he had discovered that every time he tried to speak his Henge would waver dangerously. So he was forced to remain silent, not that the sale-girl seemed to notice. She just kept cheerfully running him through the aisles, chattering as she continued to add items to a growing pile in his arms.

"Now I know these were not on your list but I really think any self-respecting ninja needs them. They like so suit your ninja fashion and are just so cute!" She said flashing him a pretty smiles, one of the deadliest weapons a skilled sales-woman has against male customers, as she held up a pair of elegant leather vambraces.

_A pair of elegant leather vambraces, with metal studs interspersed within a flowery paisley pattern._

Naruto grimaced but decided that maybe they would be a nice gift for Sakura, yea he could give them to her and she had be so grateful that...that...what the hell was he thinking?! Anko was going to skin him alive if he did not find all the items on her damn list and get out of there soon. Glancing at the clock on the wall then at his list he felt like sobbing, they were only a third of the way done and he had maybe a little over an hour left till he had to met Anko.

Just then a bell over the door to the shop clanged as a tall ninja, with circular dark sunglasses and black bandanna tied over his hair, entered.

Looking away from Naruto at the door, the young sales-woman paled slightly, her body tensing. Composing herself she quickly brought a smile to her lips. "Hello Ebsu-san! I will be with you in just a few minutes."

"Take your time my dear." Responded the man, casting her a sly smile before wandering over to peruse the racks of magazines near the front counter. While Naruto couldn't be certain, it looked like the man had picked up the 'Hottest Hot springs' issue of Shinobi-Illustrated and slid it into a copy of 'Shurkien and Kunai.'

Pretending that he was keeping up on the latest in ninja weapons when he was really ogling pictures of kunoichi at the bath house!

Damn closet pervert. At any other time Naruto would have loved to expose the man for what he was, but at the moment he instead offered a small prayer to the kami for sending the man. His presence seemed to spur the young woman helping Naruto to complete his order with a new vigor.

"I am very sorry to rush you sir. Here at Nin-mart we value all of our customers equally, especially when they are interested in making large purchases. However, Ebsu-san is one of our most regular and loyal customers, keeping up with the most recent trends in ninja fashion is very important to him." She paused and beamed. "Why he was one of the first male Konoha Shinobi to start wearing nail polish when that style reached us this spring. However, please do not get the impression that his just some blind trend follower. He chose the most glorious maroon to be his own signature color, in spite of the predominance of royal purple among most of the fashionable shinobi who had adopted that tres chic style."

Naruto was sorely tempted to let his Henge go for the pleasure of cursing at her. It was hard to say which disturbed him more, the fact that Konoha had chosen a perverted fashion fiend to be one of its noble ninja or the fact that this woman seemed to be captivated by him. It was only his ever present image of Anko, grinning as she slowly filleted him alive, that kept him focused enough to maintain his Henge and his calm.

At least she was thinking about something other than his 'ninja fashion', she had shown him more than enough 'cute' accessories already.

"Which reminds me," the sales-girl suddenly chimed happily. "We simply must stop by the cosmetics section before I let you go. There are some simply gorgeous new nail polish shades that a truly stylish ninja like yourself must consider."

Surprisingly it took only about ten more minutes to gather the remaining items on Anko's List. To Naruto's distress though the approach taken by the sales-girl assisting him was to select the most expensive option available for the items on the list, completing each selection with the cheery comment "Only the best for our customer!"

If he could have voiced his opinion he certainly would have let the woman know what he thought about the diet she was putting Gama-chan on.

Placing the items on the counter Naruto gazed at the large pile of expensive goods and then at poor Gama-chan, he could almost feel tears welling up in his eyes. Ebsu drifted over, apparently having lost interest in his ogling and glanced over Naruto's shoulder at the pile.

"Looks like you have a big spender here." Ebsu remarked cordially, glancing up at the girl who smiled back.

Naruto groaned, a shudder running through his body as the effects of maintaining his Henge for so long sank in while the more pleasant effects of the fumes from the nail polish -which he was still wearing!- steadily wore off, leaving him with a massive headache.

Inwardly wincing Naruto gently reached out to tap the girls shoulder, unfortunately this seemed to startle her and she jumped bumping into a rack of snuff boxes that had been placed at the end of the counter for customer convenience. The rack came crashing to the ground, releasing a cloud that drifted into Naruto's face.

What happened next was perhaps inevitable, perhaps it could even have been foretold before Naruto even set foot into the shop. Still time seemed to slow as the cloud made its way to Naruto, then reaching his head and engulfed it. The spell was broken with a tremendous sneeze that was both physical and emotional release.

Naruto realizing that there was no hope of getting out of there with a single item from Anko's damn list he grabbed his purse and then, while both Ebsu and the sales girl were still shocked and disorientated, bolted from the store. Damn it, now what was he going to? Anko had told him to be at the gates in two hours and he had used most of that with the stupid sales-girl!

Furrowing his eyebrows he tried desperately to come up with a plan as he ran down the street. Thus he completely failed to notice a tall figure stepping out in front of him while, waving to get his attention. When Naruto did manage to see the man he attempted to stop, but sadly this was too little to late and he plowed into Iruka knocking both to the ground.

"Oi! Iruka." Naruto smiled brightly, all thoughts of the list and imminent death banished from his mind by excitement and pride. "I got a mission! An important one to, B-ranked! I'm going to be guarding a princess!"

Iruka frowned, climbing back to his feet and dusting himself off. Sighing he looked at Naruto, putting a supportive look on his face. "Well, I can't say I'm happy about you getting this level of mission. Still congratulations for getting your first mission."

Naruto smiled brightly, putting his hands behind his head. "Hehehehe."

"Hey, want to get some ramen to celebrate?"

Naruto paused for a moment. His mouth watering at the possibility of ramen. Free ramen. It had been almost three days since he had been able to escape from Anko's torture long enough to go to Ichiraku. But the brief thought of Anko brought another image to his mind, an image of Anko and what she would do to him if he was late. No dawdling. Ramen would definitely count as dawdling.

The thought alone sent a shiver down his spine.

Steadying himself he painted the best smile he could on his face and said to Iruka, cursing himself with every word. "Sorry Iruka. Maybe when I get back you can take me out to celebrate how I kicked butt on this mission? But I really gotta get packed for this thing." Then seeing the shock on Iruka's face -this was the first time Naruto had ever turned down free ramen- Naruto continued trying to ease the ache in his own heart (and stomach!) "Hey do you think you could help me? I've got to get all the stuff on this list but I got kicked outta the store when I tried to get the stuff..."

Iruka hesitated for a minute then, glancing at Naruto suspiciously -as if he could not believe he was really Naruto-, took the list and scanned it. Naruto was an expert at reading Iruka's facial expressions, he noted the signs of the teacher remembering something from his childhood and then the look of understanding. Thus he was not surprised when the scared man reached out and ruffled his hair.

"I think I can probably help you with most of these. The academy keeps a supply of field kits for training purposes and I'm sure the Hokage wouldn't mind if I lent you one for this mission. Just try to take good care of it, ok?"

Naruto could not help but feel hope flood through him, and gratitude! Anko might not kill him after all! "Of course Iruka-sensei! You can trust me!"

"...Good." Iruka said after a moment, his own lips twitching at something funny. "Meet me at the academy in about twenty minutes. In the mean time, uhmm...you better do as Anko said on this list and get 'some decent clothes that have not been ripped to shreds and smell like they've never been washed.'"

Naruto laughed at that and then took off for his source of all things orange and jumpsuitish.

* * *

"Oi! Shikamaru!" 

The dark haired Genin groaned as he saw Naruto moving towards them. Had his day not been troublesome enough? First this noisy blond had disturbed his already disturbed cloud watching time, then he had to train his teammates which was followed by yet another very troublesome D-rank mission that had once again been completed successfully. Since it was their twelfth such mission Asuma had offered to take them to a Korea Barbecue, Choji's choice, instead of the normal 'strategy session' at the Shogi parlor.

Personally Shikamaru would rather go to the Shogi parlor than to a social event with his teammates, but Choji was so enthusiastic about the barbecue that protesting just seemed much too troublesome.

It now appeared that Naruto was preparing to create an even more troublesome situation. Despite this distracting annoyance Shikamaru still noticed the way that Hinata blushed and moved to hide as the blond in question approached them. Sighing Shikamaru scowled at Naruto, wondering why he ever bothered with trying for a peaceful life when the Fates apparently enjoyed forcing him into troublesome situations.

"What is it this time Naruto?" The genius asked blandly when the blond had stopped walking.

"I'm going on a mission! A B-ranked one even! See I'm a real Genin." Naruto said smugly, smiling brighter than ever.

Shikamaru winced, apparently the blonds delusions were at it again. Why did it always fall to him to fix these things? "Naruto, when are you going to accept the fact that you are not a Genin? Besides, if you are going to go around making up stories at least try to make them believable."

"Huh?"

"B-ranked missions are restricted to Chūnin and Jōnin. There is no way that they would let a Genin do one."

"Bu-but it's true!" Naruto protested.

Shikamaru shook his head, maybe he should ask Asuma to report this to the Hokage. It appeared that Naruto needed some professional help. Then he felt a presence, that had not been there a second ago, directly behind him.

"Actually he is a Genin about to go on a B-ranked mission." A voice whispered in his ear, the warm breath tickling him. "And...he is going to have some extra special taijutsu training when we get back unless he can give me a very good reason for not meeting me at the gate when I told him to."

Shikamaru felt his mouth going dry, watching as Naruto's face turned pale and his smile disappeared faster than a snowball in a fire. It took a great deal of effort but Shikamaru forced himself to take a step forward and then turn to see one of the most terrifyingly beautiful women he had ever seen.

Obviously she was a Kunoichi, the forehead protector unnecessary, due to the fact he could tell from the nonchalant way she was toying with a kunai. Shikamaru was also smart enough to realize that, although her body and attire were distracting, if he so much as glanced away from her face he would suffer.

Painfully.

Turning the woman in question faced Asuma, her tone far too chipper. "Asuma! How's it hanging?" When the bearded Jōnin coughed she continued happily. "These your brats? Looks like you lucked out, a group with about as much motivation as you have."

Asuma merely grumbled, chewing nervously at his cigarette.

"Well we gotta get going. You know missions and all that. So, lat-waitaminute." The woman said, her eyes zeroing in on Hinata. "Well I'll be damned. Seems that my little runt's got an admirer...and a Main Branch Hyuuga even."

"What the hell are you talking about you psychotic bitch!?" Naruto yelled, apparently having recovered from his temporary fear. Shikamaru barely heard the noise of the throw and then he winced as the ringed end of a kunai bounced off Naruto's forehead protector silencing him.

What disturbed him most was how the woman had not even glanced at Naruto.

Anko, it seemed, was more interested in Hinata, even going so far as to move so that she was behind the girl with her arm draped around Hinata's shoulders. "You know, like most men he's not particularly bright. If you ever want to get anywhere with him you really need to open up a little and learn how to use a woman's charms."

"A-anou..." Hinata muttered blushing while rubbing her fingers together.

Anko grinned wickedly and kissed the girls cheek in a mocking fashion. "Well we have to get going. Naruto follow me."

Shikamaru, still stiff from shock, watched as a grumbling Naruto and his sensei disappeared into the distance. It was then that he decided that being on a team with Choji, Hinata and Asuma was not as troublesome as he thought, even if he had to be the leader.

Things could definitely be a lot worse.

* * *

Anko smiled, keeping a brisk pace up, happy to see that Naruto was keeping up with her and that he had decided to forgo bugging her about what she did earlier and instead start chattering away about what the border was like and other stupidities. Like what kind of people they'd have to fight. 

"We'll probably have to fight some Missing-nin's hired for the job, but it's no biggie." Anko gloated smugly, darting through the streets with Naruto keeping pace. "You've beaten Kakashi so I doubt a bunch of lightweights are gonna stand much of a chance. Even if you are a bit of an idiot."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, looking annoyed. "I'm a ninja!"

Five minutes later they both came to an abrupt stop in front of the Eastern Gate, where Anko smiled brightly, glancing at him. "Ready? This will be the first time we're actually going to work as a team too."

"Oi! How can you expect us to work as a team if we've never done it before?" Naruto asked, blinking in confusion.

"The best team work is the type that develops in battle. Just remember, team work is fine, but if you rely on it your doomed to fail. The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyubi with anyone's help." Anko responded her tone turning sing-song. "So, ready for an awesome mission?!"

"HELL YEA! LET'S GO!" Naruto shouted.

Needless to say the gate guards all shifted uncomfortably and shared looks of uneasiness.

* * *

Naruto had never been beyond the walls of Konoha, he had never thought about going further. The Village was large enough and despite so many shinobi and civilians there were plenty of places for privacy. So taking that first step beyond those gates had filled him with an immense sense of pride. Pride that he was a ninja on a real mission. 

Anko had stared at him oddly for a moment when he had darted around looking everywhere. When Naruto finally noticed she gave him an odd smirk then continued on her way. After taking one long last look at the village walls and gate Naruto turned and ran to catch up with her.

Sadly the novelty of travel wore off after the first twelve hours and as they approached the small village where their client was waiting Naruto was starting to feel impatient. He wanted things to hurry along, to get this ambassador and the Daimyō's daughter and get moving.

He wanted to fight!

His thoughts however were distracted from the images of his heroic deeds when Anko spoke up. "Hey those guys are chasing a little girl." Naruto snapped his head around, almost tripping as he stared in the direction she was pointing. Squinting he was not sure but it did appear that two men were chasing a small girl. He growled, preparing to charge head first into the problem when Anko continued.

"Must be them." Anko mused glancing at him. "...Why don't you go get the girl for them?"

"But-" Naruto started to protest until Anko glanced at him threateningly. Gulping he took off, Anko had long ago taught him that she was far from a pleasant person when questioned. He was not thrilled by the prospect of having to deal with a brat. Still, best to capture her now before Anko skinned him.

Lifting his fingers he narrowed his eyes. "Kage Bunshin!" Seconds later he had five Naruto's who all reluctantly darted forward in a desperate attempt to grab the girl for the samurai. Amazingly she proved quiet nimbly, avoiding all of their attempts at capture.

"Got you!" One shouted, making a mad dive only to slip and skid past the girl, crashing into a couple of samurai.

"Damn it!" Another shouted as he too made a dive, only to fall short and slam face first into the ground.

"No!", "ACK!", "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Growling Naruto pushed the sleeves of his jacket up and made a mad dash for the child, tackling her. She screamed at the assault as the momentum carried them both off their feet, with Naruto doing his best to shield the small girl as they rolled.

"Gotcha!" Naruto said with a triumphant grin, as they came to a stop. Seconds later the girl started biting and kicking. "Eeeeeouch! You stupid-!" Naruto shouted, trying to free himself from the wild child. Thankfully he was rescued by one of the samurai his clone had toppled over, who reached down to lift up the girl up and tuck her under his arm.

Recovering, Naruto sat up glaring at the irate looking girl. "Geez...why me?"

"Please excuse Ryo-hime. She's a bit of a hand full when surprised." The samurai -dressed in red and black- offered with a bow. "I am Yoshi Naga, thank you for helping us."

"...Yea...you're welcome." Naruto muttered climbing to his feet, glaring at the red headed girl who was glaring at him. The blond boy stuck his tongue out, blowing a raspberry for the sheer principle of it.

"Naga-san, please give Ryo-hime to her maid." A man, dressed in rather nice robes called from across the field, where Naruto was annoyed to see Anko smiling sweetly at him. His annoyance turned to anger when the man continued, his voice brooking no argument. "Also make sure that young man knows he is to stay at Ryo-hime's side at all times."

"It appears that she shall be your responsibility." Naga said almost apologetically, handing over the disgruntled looking girl to a harried maid who had arrived along with a palanquin. The maid bowed, muttering about the girl being the death of her and then turned putting the small child into the palanquin.

Naruto however felt his eye twitching as Ryo stuck her tongue out at him before the curtain of the palanquin closed. He could already feel it, he was going to punt her like a ball. Or strangle her...or...

"Naruto, hurry up. We can't wait around all day for you." Anko called turning to continue on at the side of the ambassador and the twenty-some odd samurai. Glaring at the woman it was all Naruto could do to keep from cursing out loud. Storming after the others he barely noticed the two samurai falling into step beside him, hands resting on their swords as he caught up to the palanquin and maid.

"Stupid Anko, stupid Ryo." Naruto grumbled under his breath, unable to believe that he would be babysitting.

* * *

**AN:**

Yea, an early Christmas present...I updated! Anyway, This is pretty much where the story and the Manga really split ways. They'll interscet again during the Chunin exam and most of the other arcs, with changes of course. But that's a ways off, so no worries...

Also, a big shout out to Tildessmoo who's taken over as my beta for the later chapters. I just wanted to cover that now before I forgot, and also guys, he's a damn talented author himself so I highly recommend reading 'A Brief History of the Hokage of Konohagakure' and 'The Importance of Eloquence'. Short, but interesting and they are well written.

So that's pretty much it for now, I'll be taking a small break for the holidays (I will be writing, but it'll be for Hyuga Pilgimages sequel Edge of Tomorrow) so Merry Christmas, Happy New Years and whatever else I can't remember at the moment!

-Geor-sama


	6. Chapter 5: Shinobi

**Naruto: **Altered History  
Chapter 5:  
-_Shinobi_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

"Stupid brat." Naruto muttered under his breath, glancing at Ryo who was laughing while riding piggyback on Naga's shoulders. The little girl had escaped he palanquin shortly after they had started off, leading to yet another chase. Finally it was decided, despite the protests of her maid, that it would be better if someone just carried her. 

Sighing, Naruto shook his head forcing himself to forget about the two and turn his attention to the world around him. For a mission there really was not much of a difference from just wandering around the woods in Konoha...well minus having Anko actively hunting him.

It was almost like a picnic except for that annoying brat that kept turning around to stick a tongue out at him. Grumbling Naruto narrowed his eyes and darted past the samurai moving in to travel beside the ambassador himself. At least Anko was not going to skin him alive just for that.

"All this walking is pretty tiring isn't it." Blinking he looked at the man again, who was smiling faintly. "Did you know this entire area was a battlefield about fifty years ago?"

"Err...no?" Naruto offered blankly, wondering why the man would just start talking for no apparent reason.

"Really? I would have thought they would have taught the Grass-Fire Conflict in the academy."

"Hehe, I slept most of the time." Naruto responded, scratching the back of his head.

"That was the first war to end with a non-aggression treaty between countries, so it was the first time that a Shinobi village was not crushed." Taishi said breezily glancing at Naruto. "I have been meaning to ask, but what clan do you belong to?"

"Meh, clans are overrated." Naruto muttered.

"Oh..." Taishi said, sounding uncomfortable now. "Well, what are you going to do when your older?"

"I'm going to be Hokage." Naruto said proudly.

"Really?" Taishi looked at him appraisingly, then shrugged going to a different subject. "So is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked.

"I like talking on these type of trips." Taishi answered grinning. "Part of why I am so good at my job."

"Well, I've been wondering...why is the Daimyo's daughter coming along?" Naruto asked, giving the man an odd look.

"Ahh...she is part of a diplomatic exchange." Taishi answered with a sigh. "The only way to ensure that Grass will sign and follow the new non-aggression treaty is to exchange the Fire Daimyo's beloved daughter for one of the the Grass Daimyo's son."

"T-that's horrible!" Naruto said, eyes wide in disbelief. How could anyone do that? "What kind of father would do that?!" Naruto questioned loudly.

"A father that is determined to keep peace between the nations." Taishi answered calmly. "Our military strength is unmatched, with only Wind and Earth close enough to cause us problems. Sadly, we are an isolationist country while the other countries have made inter-locking alliances."

"But Waterfall..." Naga, who had hurried to catch up to Naruto, started to say only stop when the ambassador glanced at him.

"Waterfall is our only real ally...We rely on non-aggression treaties with the others, and the only way to ensure they are worth more than the paper they're written on is diplomatic exchange. Well that and the Great Wall of Hi no Kuni."

"B-but...she's just a child." Naruto protested. This was not right, how could anyone think that using children as pawns was right. "Isn't there another way?" Naruto asked, his voiced edge with his emotions.

"We could try to conquer the world." Taishi offered blandly, glancing at him. "We are not Lightening however, so we prefer non-aggression treaties."

"It's still not right." Naruto muttered, voice sounding almost scary.

"Oh, I agree." Taishi said lightly. "Sadly, like you shinobi, Ryo-hime and myself are merely tools for a greater good."

Naruto frowned slowing down, this whole situation did not sit well with him. Plus, he did not like the idea of people being reduced to mere tools, especially him. Glancing at Taishi, Naruto scowled and continued on in silence.

* * *

The little entourage surrounding the Ambassador and Ryo reached one of the numerous gates of the massive Great Wall at noon where their progress slowed to a crawl. Anko had always hated this part of missions outside Fire Country, it took forever to get through the various checkpoints and everybody was so damn formal. 

Glancing at Naruto she smirked, seeing his obvious annoyance at their slow progress. There was something to be said for having a student with a personality like his. Turning her attention back to the wall she noted the sharp upswing in the number of Fire Samurai guarding the gate. Thank the gods she did not have to go through more than one of these.

Leading the group of samurai and the lone other ninja to the gate guards Anko smiled faintly, putting the samurai-guards on edge. Apparently her reputation was known even among them...that made her smile just a bit more. Stopping just short of the towering Wall, she glanced up at the distant watchtowers which were manned by squads of samurai, then turned back as the captain of the samurai came toward her.

Unconcerned Anko fished in her pocket and then producing the required papers handed it over, whistling as she motioned for Naruto to join her. The blond, shooting a dark glare at Ryo, darted up to join her side. He did not say anything and Anko did nothing to acknowledge his presence. The captain glanced at them briefly, checked the papers and then started toward the samurai.

"Geez, come on...can't we like just go over the wall or something?" Naruto whined, crossing his arms twenty minutes later as they watched the captian continue checking the samurai against the list.

"If we were alone then yea, but were not and besides there are too many samurai around." Anko said conversationally. "The Fire Country has roughly three hundred and forty-thousand samurai, a large portion of which patrol these walls."

"But...we could get past them right? They're just samurai..." Naruto grumbled.

"Moron." Anko muttered crossing her own arms. "The Captains and commanders are failed Genin, even those born into the life of a samurai have some experince with using and detecting chakra. The elite samurai that guard the daimyo are even former Jōnin."

"Failed Genin?" Naruto said blankly. "I thought when you failed you were sent back to the academy."

"Nah, that'd be a waste of talent. Those that fail are shunted off into Samurai training, along with those that fail the smaller academies in various Fire nation villages." Anko glanced at him, noting his confusion. "Now you know why Fire Country has such an overwhelming military power, our samurai can mold and use chakra and our ninja are better trained than everybody else."

Naruto muttered something and Anko laughed before heading toward Taishi, who was talking with the samurai-captain. They went quiet at her approach and she made a mental note at that even though she pretended she didn't notice anything. "So! You done yet or do we need to set up camp here for the night?"

"Everything is in order." The captain bristled slightly, handing the Ambassador a sealed scroll. "Shinta-san asks that you give this to the Grass Daimyo, it confirms details about the amount of samurai he will be allowed to bring to the Chūnin exams."

"Well, if that's everything we'll be going. Naruto's getting antsy..."

The Samurai-Captain nodded faintly, muttering something about typical ninja and then waved for the gates to be opened. Turning he stared at her intently. "One of your ANBU captains alerted us to the fact that there are two dozen missing-nins out there."

"Really? Where at?" Anko asked her eyes growing cold.

"They did not provide us with any specifics." The Captain answered. "I think you should take more samurai, two dozen is far to many ninja for just the two of you and a half dozen samurai."

"Nah, we can handle it." Anko grinned turning to the ambassador. "Well, let's get it in gear." Turning she stared at Naruto and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey runt! You've got point, start walking!"

"What?" Naruto shouted back.

Anko bit back her annoyance. "I SAID WALK YOU DAMN MORON!"

Naruto mumbled something and then turning started walking, Anko offered a jaunty wave at the samurai captain and then motioned for the group to follow the blond. Naruto led the way through the gate, then down the slight hill, past the open ground and across the far bridge.

Anko whistled happily from the rear of the group, she could not wait to be back in the thick of battle. That was a joy she missed dearly.

* * *

_High Plains, Grass Country..._

Naruto glared at the simmering fire, rotating his almost charred fish without thinking. He was perfectly aware that more than a few of the Fire Nation Samurai were glaring at him, but he did not care. How many of them had to spend three weeks babysitting a child that should have been locked in a cage? Snorting he yanked his, now completely black, fish out of the fire and glared at it before tossing it away.

Screw it all to hell, as far as Naruto was concerned this mission was a total bust. The only fights he'd had were with Ryo...and according to both Anko and Taishi, they would meet up with the Kusa escort sometime tomorrow.

Still, he tried to comfort himself that at least he was out on a mission now. It might have been a total pile of crap but at least it was a mission not more training. Propping his chin in his hands he glowered at the flames, his mind roaming to the fact that this would his first birthday outside of Konoha.

Not that it really was different, outside of Iruka offering a happy birthday bowl of ramen Naruto had never celebrated or received anything. It had not however kept him from hurting bad enough yesterday that he had almost mentioned it to Anko, thankfully he had remembered that Anko was the last person that would actually care about his birth.

"Geez, you look like you've lost your best-friend." Anko grinned as she plopped down next to Naruto, picking up a stick to poke the fire.

Snorting the blond ignored her, unwilling to say anything to her about what he was feeling. Anko was quiet for several long minutes and then continued as if they had always been talking about the Fire/Grass conflict. "Did you know that the real reason Fire and Grass had any sort of problems was because of an underwater lake?"

"And I care...?" Naruto deadpanned staring at the woman.

"Whatever, just get your ass to the forest," Anko said waving a hand, annoyed. "We're going to do some extra training while we have the time."

"More training?" Naruto protested glaring at her.

"Did I stutter?" Anko asked casually, standing up while glaring at him. "Believe it or not runt, we're a team and I really don't want to have to train someone new." Reaching into the pocket of her coast she dropped what appeared to be a thick roll of bandages at Naruto's feet.

"What's that?" Naruto asked, not moving to touch the item. He had learned in his month long training with her her that if he was not careful he could fall head first into a trap and would suffer horribly for it. Kami knows how many times he had fallen into one of her traps during a sparring session.

"A forearm holster for your kunai." Anko answered blandly, crossing her arms. "I figured you were about ready for one..."

Scowling Naruto picked up the item and unrolled it, discovering several thinner than normal kunai. It took some serious consideration on his part and then Naruto decided that they would probably fall into his hand if he wanted them to. Frowning he rolled up his sleeve and struggled with the item before looking up at Anko. "So how do I use it?"

Rolling her eyes Anko turned away from him. "Tense your arm for a minute and one will fall into your hand."

"Thanks Anko!" Naruto said happily after a moment, knowing it was not a birthday present but he could pretend. It was all Naruto really had, besides it did show that Anko did care a bit about his safety. Even he could see how useful a forearm holster could be.

"Meh, that's the only birthday present you'll ever get from me." Anko said dismissively before she started walking toward the forest.

Naruto sat there for a moment...a strange feeling stirring in his chest...blinking away the tears of joy from someone , other than Iruka, actually acknowledging his birth before he darted off the log, falling into step beside Anko.

Maybe some extra training would not be so bad.

* * *

"Okay!" Anko chirped happily, standing in front of a decent sized pond. Seeing she had Naruto's attention she continued. "Since Ambassador Taishi insisted on a stop for the day I decided were still going to train. This time we're doing something different, so training's going to be really fun today!" 

Naruto groaned, prompting Anko to smile brightly. "We'll be working on chakra control," Anko continued leaping into the air with a twisting back flip before landing in a graceful crouch in the center of the pond. Since they had already covered tree climbing, Anko saw no reason to put this off. Especially since they had passed through the checkpoint in the Great Wall and entered the Grass Country not too long ago.

Sadly the only way to get him interested in learning this would be showing off...not that Anko really had a problem with that.

"WOW-WWW!" Naruto shouted, hands coming up in front of him.

"Right! Now then I want you to walk out here to me!" Anko shouted, sweeping her hand out in front of her.

"Walk on water?!" Naruto questioned loudly before scowling at her.

Lucky for him Anko was not like her _sensei_, otherwise Naruto would have been dead as of now. "Just concentrate your chakra under your feet, that's all it takes. Just expel a constant amount and you'll be fine."

"Uhhh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head scowling.

Anko saw the way he was staring at her through half-closed eyes and groaned, she knew that face, It was his 'I'm-thinking-cause-I'm-confused-but-I'm-not-telling-you' look. Anko frowned, even going so far as to tap her foot on the water. He now had yet another mark in her 'Going-to-kill-while-sleeping' column.

He seemed to notice her impatience and snorted, thumbing his nose. "Piece of cake!"

That said he took off on a dead run.

Sadly he managed four steps before he sunk all the way up to his neck.

"I thought it was going to be a piece of cake." Anko taunted.

"Screw you!" Naruto shouted angrily before struggling his way back to shore, pulling his jacket off angrily and tossing it aside. Scowling he closed his eyes, hands coming up as he concentrated. Then without warning he opened his eyes and tried running yet again.

Cursing loudly Naruto splashed face first into the pond, displacing a few fish. Pushing and spluttering his way upright he glared at Anko before returning to shore. Anko shook her head, rubbing her temples.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Taking a breath, he attempted to banish everything to concentrate on what he had to do. First he had to mold his chakra, yet again...he was beginning to doubt just how much chakra he could possibly have. Still, he had to mold it first, and like in the academy it did so sluggishly. Then it sped up, flowing more fluidly like it was suppose to. 

Satisfied with that, he took a deeper breath taking a moment to enjoy the way the tufts of his hair danced with the breeze and the sun warmed his neck. As calm as he could be, Naruto turned back to his chakra concentrating it on his feet and took an uncertain step easing his weight unto the water.

When it seemed he was not about to sink he brought his other foot forward only to fall face first into the pond water. Sputtering he pushed his way upright and ranted, while a fish thrashed in his hair before escaping. Frustrated beyond belief Naruto summed up his feelings in one word. "**DAMN**!"

"Give it a rest Naruto." Anko called, not looking up from her spot near a tree where she was busy arranging odd looking items. "Besides, I need to see you for a minute."

Grumbling Naruto trudged out of the water and dripping wet stomped his way to her side where she motioned for him to sit down without looking up. Scowling he swept his gaze over the items she had; two kunai two vials of dark ink (which she was mixing up) and two odd looking crystals.

Looking up at her he frowned. "Uh...what's going on?"

Anko didn't respond for a moment, then set her ink down and selected a kunai handing it to him. "I need some of your blood, prick your thumb or something."

"Errr...ok." Naruto said slowly, not really knowing what was going on with her but having learned it was best not to question her. Pricking his thumb he winced and offered it to her. Instead she took the kunai and dipped it into the second vial of ink.

Naruto blinked, then started sucking on his thumb annoyance bubbling up inside him. What the hell was going on? Why exactly did she need his blood? He did however watch in fascination as she finally picked up one of the brushes and dipping it in the ink started inking a design into the back of her wrist.

"This is called the 'emblem of power'," Anko said casually, not looking up from her work of intricate lines. "It's part of a binding system used by ANBU and Hunter-nin's." Looking up she dipped her brush again, her tone serious. "It's used primarily for keeping track of team members, so that even if the team fragments and someone runs into a serious problem but are unable to radio for help the others can know."

"Er...how does that work? Like, uh, reading each others minds?"

"No." Anko said looking back at her wrist and finishing it off. Then, picking up one of the crystals she inked almost invisible kanji on it before setting it back down and picking up the other vial of ink and a clean brush that held his blood. "It functions off emotions. The idea of the jutsu is simply to establish a link that increases the sensitivity of the two bound people to these sort of projected/sensed emotions."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, watching as she inked the other crystal first before motioning for him to turn around. Warily he shifted around so that she could have access to the back of his neck where she started inking another seal.

"This one is called the 'emblem of truth'..." Anko said casually, taking her sweet time. "Now, this binding jutsu does have a few limitations... mostly that the further we are from each other the weaker it gets. Still it's very handy to have...The crystals resonate with chakra and emotions, so their like emotional radios.

"And of course sometimes those limitations can be advantageous. As you follow a path toward the person you are bound with, the jutsu gets stronger, making it easy to track them; so long as their emotions are not fluctuating too much."

"Oh, I get it." Naruto lied, turning when Anko finished up with the design on his neck. "So, you invented this?"

"No." Anko said, scowling faintly as she picked up the two kunai. "My _Sensei_ and Jiraiya-sama did, they were two of the Sannin and created quite a few justus' that are still used by ANBU and Konoha Hunter-nin's."

"Why do you say sensei like that?" Naruto asked after a moment watching as she mixed the blood on the two blades. "I mean...it sounds like you hate him or something..."

"It's none of your business." Anko said in a clipped tone, her eyes boring into him. "All you need to know is my sensei was one of the Sannin, those three legendary ninja that were trained personally by the Sandaime Hokage."

"Wow...so where are they now?" Naruto asked excitedly, he hadn't know that the old man had taught 'legendary' ninja. Mostly though it was the fact that he was under the tutelage of one of these famous ninja's own student's.

"_Sensei_ is on a quest, Jiraiya-sama is busy on an extended mission and Tsunade-sama retired." Anko said briskly, finally applying the mixed blood to both crystals before looking up at him. "Now, turn your ass back around so we can finish this binding jutsu and you can get back to your training."

Snorting Naruto did as ordered shivering when he felt her cool fingers press an even cooler stone against his neck where the design had been placed. "Kinbaku!" At first Naruto felt a slight warmth up crawl up his spine, then it grew to uncomfortable heat...then suddenly there was a flash of intense heat and he collapsed forward, eyes crossed in pain.

"Kinbaku!" Anko said once more and Naruto heard a faint grunt of pain.

The burning sensation grew to a peek where it felt as if the back of his neck was peeling away and then...it died. The burning was replaced for a brief moment by a string of odd emotions and then they were snuffed out just as suddenly as the burning. Puzzled over that Naruto reached back to touch his throbbing neck, expecting to feel burnt flesh or at least the crystal.

Instead all he felt was smooth flesh as if nothing had ever happened. Turning he found Anko almost sluggishly pushing herself upright. "Hey, hey...are you ok?" Naruto asked anxiously, only to receive an odd look from the older woman. What if the justu had backfired and her mind was scrambled or something?

Her look grew even odder and then her entire face went back to that smug expression she normally wore. "I'm fine. You get back to work, you've had enough of a break runt."

Naruto bristled at that, then snorting climbed to his feet and stormed back toward the pond, swearing that would be the last time he ever worried for that bitch. Turning he prepared an insult but found the woman already cleaning up and standing, not even paying him the slightest bit of attention. Annoyed he turned back to the pond and closed his eyes molding chakra once more.

He would not give up until he walked on this water like that psycho-bitch Anko had. What had even possessed her to even put him through this? Seconds later he was drenched once more and cursing loudly as he yanked off his shirt throwing it on top of his jacket.

He was not going to give up until he had this mastered.

* * *

Munching on her dango quietly, Anko watched as the last traces of day disappeared. The stars were quick to appear, attempting to give the world a semi-balance of light. Not that the camp needed it, in the center of the tents was a fire pit where a fire crackled happily. 

It was almost like an idyllic family outing, except for the fact that there were several highly trained samurai and one of the most sadistic women on the planet on guard duty.

Anko smirked, selecting another dango from her carton scanning the area. There was still no sign of those missing-nins, still...she would not give up on them yet. They were not incredible strong from what she could tell, maybe low Chûnin level at most, so she was not worried that Naruto could not handle the fight.

Speaking of Naruto she narrowed her eyes, wondering why he was still training. Well, besides the fact that she had told him to keep training. He should have stopped a long time ago, yet the link was resonating with frustration a sure sign that he was training. Scowling Anko finished her dango, she had better go check on the runt.

Grumbling she left her comfortable spot in the shadow of a tree, moving silently through the woods until she reached the edge of the pond she'd found early and started the training. Carefully, in case there were enemies about, she parted the branches of the tree in front of her. There, bathed in moon and starlight, was Naruto stripped down to his underwear and still trying to master the Water-Walking technique.

Frowning, Anko shifted to a better position struggling to see his face.

His eyes almost seemed to glow even as he continued to fall into the water, but his body seemed to be moving sluggishly. By all rights the boy should have collapsed by now due to exhaustion, even with his inhuman stamina. He had been training non-stop for nearly twelve hours, that was insane. Still Anko left him alone, almost willing him to get this technique, because like she had told him earlier he **was** her teammate.

Anko watched, seeing the way he would manage to stumble through the water knee deep before toppling forward to sink. A curse managed to escape her as she started to save his damn hide, only freeze when his head broke the surface and he uttered a curse of his own. Settling back she watched as he swam back to shore where he shook his head and hopped on one foot to knock water out of his ear.

Turning Naruto glared at the pond, eyes more determined than ever. "DAMN IT! I'm going to be Hokage someday, I can do this! I'm not going to let a freakin pond stop me!" That declared he concentrated, hands held in position to help the concentration needed to mold the chakra.

Anko held her breath, on an instinctive level she knew that this would be his last shot. Either he made it or he passed out and she had to save his worthless ass. Lowering his hands Naruto marched forward, head held high as if he was not even worried. Anko bit her lip watching as his feet carried him further and further across the waters surface and then, pride filling her for some reason, she smirked as he came to a stop dead center.

The sheer amount of stamina and chakra he was using was outrageous, impossible, yet there he was and he even appeared to have chakra and stamina left to burn. Naruto looked around smugly, then lifted his arms voice echoing in the night. "Thought I could not do it didn'tcha, stupid sadistic bitch! I'm going to be Hokage and you can't stop me!" That shouted he started dancing stupidly, cheering himself.

Anko merely continued to stare at him, a blank look on her face. Not so much because of his dance but more because of the fact that he had the energy _to_ dance. Anybody else, herself included, would have collapsed well before they could even think about dancing.

Just what was Naruto? How strong could he become, how powerful? Somewhere, unknown to her a smaller voice that sounded vaguely like a hissing snake whispered _'How can I use him?'_.

Still even Naruto could not fight off exhaustion forever as he toppled forward once more, sinking yet again. Anko waited a few minutes to ensure that he was not about to recover and then she broke cover to retrieve Naruto and keep him in the world of the living.

* * *

Naruto woke up with a dull throb in his temples, he was not sure why, but he knew that he had one and that the noise around him _was_ not helping. Sitting up, the blond looked around as the samurai packed up the camp, two playing with Ryo who was laughing happily. Groaning Naruto climbed to his feet, hand resting against one of his temples. 

"About time you woke up." Anko suddenly said from behind him and Naruto jerked in surprise. Geez, why did she always do that? Turning he glared up at the smiling Jōnin who was twirling a kunai. "Well, I guess we can start now. Unless your highness would like to sleep a bit more."

Naruto glared at her and she smiled, ruffling his hair before turning to speak with a samurai that was nearby. Snorting the blond looked at the sky, to see how long he had been sleeping but found it a flat gray color. Oh just the perfect way to start a day, under a gray sky and with a throbbing headache. All he needed now was to find out he was on the same damn team with Sasuke after all.

"I'd have to kill myself if that was true." Naruto muttered as he turned back to his sleeping bag, repacking it.

"Naga, Naga! Look." Ryo suddenly shouted, drawing Naruto's attention. He watched as the girl darted away from the smiling samurai to grab a sunflower on the edge of the camp.

She was smiling brightly, pleased with the discovery.

Even Naruto started to smile at that, then three things happened at once. Anko shouted 'ambush', a samurai that was standing beside Naruto was brought down with a kunai to the throat and Naga was unsheathing his sword racing to save Ryo from the various missing-nins that were hurtling toward them.

"Move!" Anko shouted, as samurai fanned out in a circle to protect the ambassador.

Naruto's eyes darted everywhere, Naga was fighting desperately against a missing-nin, Anko was darting everywhere leaving a bloody wake behind her with a grin. The samurai next to him was dead, his blood pooling around Naruto's feet, those glassy eyes staring unseeing at the heavens.

Naruto knew he should do something, to move, to fight...yet he could not do it. His body refused to move. He watched as samurai, who were only just barely able to mold chakra, fought against seemingly unbeatable ninja. He saw samurai die horrible, painful deaths at the hands of ninja and jutsu...

Ryo was screaming as Naga collapsed to his knees, blood spraying from his throat.

The blood kept pooling, expanding until Naruto's foot was slick with the liquid...he felt sick, he wanted to run away...

Then something inside Naruto stirred, it was not like during his fight with Sasuke or sparring Anko...it was almost as if something inside him was dancing. He felt his blood starting to burn with a desire to draw blood to...to...

Naruto saw Naga clutch futile at his murderer's clothes and Ryo screamed as she tried to crawl away from the towering ninja that had killed her only source of protection. Suddenly everything that had frozen him in place was gone. Scattered like leaves during a whirlwind.

Naruto reacted without thinking, darting forward as the missing-nin started flashing through seals for a jutsu. Naruto's hand shot to his leg holster before sending several kunai flying almost flawlessly. Naruto was seconds behind the weapons, eyes narrowed and instincts guiding him.

The missing-nin cursed as he leapt out of the path of the weapons, turning to stare at Naruto.

Naruto stared at those gray eyes, even as things starting slowing down. A part of him shouted that he was going to die while another part, the part that had taken control, screamed wordlessly in anticipation of the fight.

"Kage Bunshin!"

Seconds later Naruto was surrounded by four clones, two ducked the missing-nin's initial attack to grab Ryo and fled toward the ambassador. The other two disappeared in a flash of smoke, but they had bought Naruto enough time to close the minor gap, bringing him into striking distance.

The missing-nin took a swipe at the boys head with a kunai, but Naruto ducked coming up thrusting his own kunai for the man's stomach. Instinct was all Naruto had right now and he was running with it, this bastard was going to try and hurt Ryo after all and Naruto could not let that happen.

The missing-nin reacted instantly, taking a half step back while performing a passing block, forcing Naruto's weapon into the earth. Naruto adapted to the sudden change smoothly, using his momentum to whip around into a single handed handstand catching the missing-nin's hand that was holding a kunai aimed at Naruto's neck.

There was a half-second of non-movement, then Naruto was delivering an inverted front kick to the man's elbow. The missing-nin yanked his arm away, clutching at the now broke joint as Naruto completed his flip, pulling his kunai free. Spinning Naruto's moment of joy at his great move was brought to an abrupt halt when the missing-nin attacked with his other arm viciously.

Naruto managed to move to the side just as the kunai came within inches of slicing his cheek. Gulping Naruto tried to recover but was forced to dodge yet again, with a handspring just barely avoiding the stab at his chest. This was bad, he could not dodge for much longer.

This was proven a moment later when the missing-nin's kunai stabbed through the sleeve of Naruto jumpsuit slicing his shoulder. Clutching his arm he tumbled to the ground, but thankfully his training paid off and he rolled in a desperate attempt to put some space between them.

Damn it!

Skidding to a stop Naruto looked around, eyes going wide realizing that the missing-nin was already within a half step of him. Heaving he moved his body, forcing himself into a half-crouch, only to be pitched forward and pelted by debris as an flash note that had escaped his weapons pouch went off. Recovering quickly Naruto instinctively turned to face his enemy while blocking out the pain of his shoulder.

The missing-nin was crouched, hand over his eyes as if shielding them. Once more following his instincts Naruto charged his enemy empty handed. The missing-nin apparently heard his rush and made a blind lunge at Naruto's chest, but the blond jumped like he had been taught, flipping over the man as he twisted around in the air.

What followed next was slow, almost dream like.

Naruto saw the opening and his hand moved of its own accord allowing a kunai from his forearm holster to fall perfectly into his hand. The moment it left his fingers, Naruto no longer saw an enemy or a human.

_All Naruto saw was a training dummy._

Then time sped back up and he was slamming full force into the ground, while his enemy collapsed face first. For a moment Naruto felt pride that he had hit the target, that he had preformed so perfectly; it did not register for several long minutes that he was on a mission and that was a real human he had just killed.

His mind refused to accept the facts until he could no longer ignore the blood that had splattered his face from the blow.

Numbness spread through him and then...tears.

* * *

Anko ducked the first wild slash, catching it on her way back to a standing position. For a moment she stared into the widening eyes of the missing-ninja she was fighting and then she was molding her chakra. 

"Sen'eitajashu!"

Seconds later Anko grimaced as snakes exploded from the sleeve of her jacket, twisting as the plunged through the air to sink their venomous fangs into the unsuspecting ninja. She watched briefly as his mouth foamed and then released his arm, the snakes recoiling back into her wrist.

Noticing that she was being avoided for the moment she took the chance to study the battlefield, she had not expected an ambush here. Stupid! She should have seen it coming, should have felt the morons moving into position. At least the samurai were talented enough with chakra that they could stall the attacking ninja.

Ducking a sloppy attack Anko plunged a kunai through the missing-nin's ribs and into his heart. Shoving him away Anko spun, realizing that she could not see or feel Naruto at all. Where was that brat! Earlier in the fight she had seen him frozen, but he had been alive. Now she could not feel anything, yet he had not died, if he had Anko would have felt that...

She had taken only a few dozen steps when another missing-nin charged her, Anko reacted easily using his weight and momentum. Twisting as he passed she plunged a kunai into his spine, severing his motor function but leaving him alive. In extreme pain, but alive.

Turning she started forward once more only to stop in her tracks seeing Naruto duck a swing from the missing-nin , then rise thrusting a kunai toward the man's stomach.

"Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!"

Anko reacted to the shout, leaping back in time to see the ground she had been standing on churn before turning into a wall of stone. Landing once more she narrowed her eyes, watching as the missing-nin responsible exploded from behind the wall.

"Strange." Anko scowled as the man made a lunge toward her, dodging and twisting around his blows, her mind raced paying attention to the various jutsus' she had heard so far. Dodging yet another Earth jutsu she landed, her scowl in full force.

The Stone did not allow ninja to go missing, this many missing-nins using stone jutsu's just did not make any sense.

"You are a quick one." The man said, eyes narrowing even as his hands started flashing through a series of seals.

Anko smiled viciously, molding her chakra and lashing out with a punch "Sen'eitajashu!" Seconds later she watched as the man, obviously at least low Jōnin, lost his concentration as several snakes wrapped around them with bone crushing power.

Turning her gaze away as the snakes finished their work, she tried to find Naruto again, cursing that she had lost track of the fight. Moving quickly she jumped up, using the stone wall as a perch to locate the fight she was interested in, which she found just as a flash note went off.

Cursing she squinted through the dots in front of her eyes, her breath stopping as Naruto twisted around for a head-on charge.

_Would he...?_

Anko felt her eyes widened as she saw Naruto, at twelve, make one of the most beautiful kills she had ever seen.

The blinded missing-nin made a lunge for his chest but Naruto had jumped, twisting in the air. Anko could almost read his mind as his eyes fixated on the back of the man's neck, she bit her lip watching as his hand came forward, his forearm holster supplying the kunai required. After that it was nothing more than a flash of dark metal slipping perfectly from his hand and into the base of the man's skull.

Anko saw a vague, satisfied smile on Naruto's face before he crashed to the earth, his enemy toppling forward from the momentum.

It was all over.

Seconds stretched out in silence and Anko shifted her attention briefly to the ambassador, noting that most of the samurai were wounded in some way. Thankfully the missing-nins were retreating, which meant she could turn her attention back to Naruto. Naruto had yet to move and his emotions were not registering...no, they were starting to come through now...he felt guilty?

Scowling Anko hopped off the wall and stepping over the bodies of various samurai and ninja made her way to Naruto.

Curious she paused next to the ninja that Naruto had taken down, kneeling she studied his body, fingers prodding his shoulders and back. "Hmm...about the same strength as Sasuke..." Grinning in satisfaction she plucked the kunai from the man's skull and stood walking over to kneel next to Naruto.

He was spread eagle on the ground, blue eyes staring at the sky as he cried; the type of crying that only those who were to innocent for life as a ninja. It was a silent cry, the type that so often followed first kills.

Staring at him, she remembered...

_"Kill them Anko, my sweet lil viper." A shadowy man, with yellow eyes whispered to her before glancing at her two happily chatting teammates. _

_"Hai, Oro-sensei..." _

Shaking that memory off she reached down gently wiping Naruto's cheek clear of tears. Her stomach was twisting itself into a knot, but she could not place a finger on why.

"I-I..." Naruto hiccuped, his eyes drifting to stare at her.

Anko nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "It was beautiful..." Then reaching down she pressed the kunai into his hand. "This is yours." She hesitated, feeling as if she had heard those things somewhere before. Anko quickly Shrugged that off noticing his shoulder. The wound was deep, but it seemed to be healing on it's own. Raising an eyebrow she produced a bandaged and covered the wound, not bothering with the medical cream.

Odd, she knew he recovered quickly but this was faster than she had ever seen.

"I killed him..." Naruto whispered hoarsely, breaking her train of thought. Turning her attention back to him she found him staring at her, as if waiting for her judgment.

Anko nodded, glancing back at him with a proud smile. "...I'll buy you ramen when we get to the Hidden Grass." Standing she moved off to check on the others, granting him a moment to recover from the shock of his first kill. Then suddenly she realized with a horrible jolt that everything she had just said and done...had been said to her.

Her hand went up to her neck, covering a blank space where she remembered being bitten once.

She was not her _sensei_! She was **NOT**!


	7. Chapter 6: Kusa Village

Naruto: Altered History  
Chapter 7:  
-Kusa Village-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Sandaime could feel a stiffness in his joints as he watched the warm rain bead against the windows of his office as he listened to its steady drumbeat on the roof. He was getting old, he even had doubts about his ability to bear the responsibilities of Hokage much longer. Just yesterday he had forgotten an important meeting with Ibiki, the head of his ANBU interrogation squad, all because he had allowed himself to become distracted staring at flowers.

"A Hokage should be like a Roman Candle. A long, powerful ascent and then, when it reaches the peek...an unrivaled explosion." Sandaime muttered softly, recalling the Nidaime's words.

Maybe he should select another Hokage and retire yet again...but who? The closest candidate in terms of power was Kakashi, but that man could not be Hokage. If only one of his students was still around, then he could select one...without meaning to he started to remember the days when he was young and teaching the famous Sannin's.

He was startled out of his reminiscence by a soft knocking at the office door. "Come in." Old though he was Sandaime could tell by the way the person's footsteps fell that they were ANBU. They had a very unique way of moving that only a truly experienced ninja like a Kage could notice.

Turning he stared at the man, taking in the typical black uniform and armor, noting the katana strapped to his back. Although the ANBU looked familiar, the Sandaime could swear he even remembered holding the man as a baby a long, long time ago, he racked his brain to remember the name that accompanied the face behind the bird mask. Try as he might he could not remember so instead the Sandaime sighed, inquiring, "What is it?"

"Reports." That said the man offered the two tiny, beaten-silver cylinders.

Sandaime untied the cylinders and took them over to the light of the window opening to examine the minute seals. One was the familiar seal of Kakashi. Breaking it open, the message inside was short and encrypted with only a basic cipher that the Sandaime was able read directly. It reported that Anko's team had completed their mission successfully and would return soon. The other cylinder took him a minute to recognize before he blinked.

Anko?

"That will be all." Sandaime said without making a move to open her cylinder. The second the door was shut he returned to his seat behind his desk and sat down, the cylinder still in hand. Setting it aside for a moment he poured himself a cup of strong and bitter tea then sipped, listening to the rain.

What could have caused Anko to send him a report immediately, from the field, by way of ANBU? She never did that, even when there were things that warranted such action. Sighing he broke the seals and found four scrolls made of very thin paper, the characters tiny, the message long and encoded in ANBU cipher reserved for the most sensitive communications.

Decoding was laborious. When it was completed, he read the report and then reread it twice. Putting the report down on his desk he allowed his eyes to drift back to the beads of water on the window pane as he let his mind range.

"Kotetsu!" Sandaime called and was immediately greeted with the bandaged Chūnin.

"Hokage-sama?"

"As soon as the rain stops, fetch Kakashi-san and alert the Chief Medic at the hospital to prepare for a Class-A examination within a week."

"Hai." Kotetsu said, rushing out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Smiling Sandaime looked down at report from Anko once more. For the first time in a long while he felt a shiver of what could almost be called youthful excitement run through his old body. "I knew there was something about that boy..."

* * *

"It was beautiful..." Naruto muttered to himself as he leaned against the boulder, his fingers splayed against the yellowed grass. They were located in an area that Anko had called the High Plains, once a battlefield from the Grass-Fire Conflict. When Anko had told him the story of the place Naruto had not cared, he had been lost in thought about the man he had killed. Somehow, he just could not make himself care about anything. 

He had not meant to kill the man, Naruto had almost shouted that at her, but Anko's obvious pride had kept him from it. Her pride made him try to lock away his feelings about the murder. But somehow, whenever he closed his eyes or allowed his mind to wander images of his own hands, stained with someone else's blood, crept into his mind.

Momentarily clenching his eyes and teeth he forcibly dispelled these visions. He was a ninja and it had been beautiful. Nodding Naruto focused his attention back on the little girl that was playing with two of his clones. She seemed so happy, rough housing with his clones and laughing. He watched, trying to take some enjoyment in the little girls joy. Failing Naruto shifted his gaze to Anko who was talking with the ambassador, her body language suggesting what they were discussing was serious.

Closing his eyes he leaned his head against the boulder, concentrating on his breathing. This proved to be a bad idea since he was bombarded with memories of the samurai that had died, watching Naga die, of the blood spraying from the back of the missing-nin's head. Snapping his eyes open he found himself staring up into the curious gaze of Ryo.

"'Aruto?"

"Er...yea?" Naruto managed, blinking.

Smiling shyly the little girl held up a flower for him. "Fo' ew."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, reaching up to take the flower curiously. Looking back at her he smiled back, nobody had ever given him a flower before. "Thanks Ryo-chan."

The girl giggled then turned and ran back off to play with the clones, one of whom picked her up and spun her around laughing. Naruto watched for a moment then felt queasy and looked back at the flower. How could she be so happy? How could he stand to hold such a delicate little flower in the same hands that he had used to brutally take a human life?

"Naruto!" Jerking the blond looked up to see Anko glaring at him. Getting up quickly he put the flower in a pocket rushing over to her. Arms crossed she stared at him before speaking once more. "The Ambassador says our Grass contacts will be arriving soon, you need to make sure to keep a very close eye on Ryo."

"Right." Naurto said, looking as serious as he could make himself. Strangely, now that he had something to concentrate on other than the life he had taken, the pain lessened. Maybe that was the secret to why Anko was always on the move, always toying with a kunai or other weapon.

Turning he motioned his clones, one of whom was letting Ryo ride on his back, to join him. Taking the girl and allowing the two clones to disappear in a puff he offered a goofy smile. "Piggy back ride?"

"Yea!" Ryo cheered happily as Naruto awkwardly put the girl on his shoulders. He even bore the child's playful pulling on his hair, allowing a facade of his former carefree nature to slid into place...he couldn't afford to let Anko down.

So he'd play a game of pretend...

...and Naruto was great at pretending.

* * *

Anko hated Grass Country. Not the politics, not the ninja, but the country. The seemingly endless sea of grass, the metallic water, the oppressive expanse of sky. Grass Country was the perfect home for snakes. Orochimaru had been fond of it, reminding her often how much the right conditions were required to cultivate beautiful things. Anko sighed, thinking back to her former sensei. 

Orochimaru had an affinity for beautiful things, though most would consider the aesthetic he judged with rather twisted; in it beauty and death were always intimately intertwined. Thus it was not surprising that some of the most deadly species of snake she knew of had originated in the Grass. Many of these snakes, even as hatchlings, had the power to kill a grown man with only a few ounces of venom, striking swiftly and without warning.

Scowling Anko brought her attention back to the group around her. A few hours ago they had been met by a large team of Grass Ninja who were to escort them to Kusa village. These ninja seemed competent enough, although a brief exhibition of killer intent had been necessary, when one of the older males had leered at her, to convince them to behave themselves. She would have loved to kill the bastard then but as this was a diplomatic mission some restraint was required.

It had bothered her a little that she could not indiscriminately kill the Kusa Ninja. That was passing though. What weighed her mind at the moment was Naruto. Since performing the kinbaku no jutsu she had been training herself with it so that she could better keep track of the brat. It still took some concentration to pick up the faint emotional signals, but generally it worked quite well.

Arguably too well. Ever since his kill the blond had been a tumult of emotions. She could feel the part of him that was repulsed and remorseful for what he had done yet she also sensed how his heart was hardening to the reality. Unbidden these emotions from the boy brought back memories of a young girl whose own hands were stained with blood.

Like Naruto her first kill had been a reaction, without thought, instinct. At first she too had been remorseful, but soon, with the encouragement of her sensei, she had learned to revel in the experience. Looking over at Naruto she wondered if the same would happen to him.

A shiver ran down her spine as the similarities between her and former sensei became apparent. Dammit though, what the Hell was she supposed to do? She hated Orochimaru and what he had done to her, but she could only train Naruto how she had been trained. Yet creating another monster, honoring her former sensei by passing on his ideals in addition to his techniques. Would she allow that?

At least she had realized it before she tried to teach him any of the forbidden techniques that she knew. While he could, theroetically learn them, they required totally embracing a willingness to kill. Naruto could never truly embrace that aspect unless she was willing to force it, like Orochimaru had done to her...and she refused to do that. So her various techiqnues from her former teacher were off limits.

Dammit. Crossing her arms she scowled, shifting her attention back to more important matters, namely the information she had gleaned from her interrogation of the missing-nin she had spared. It had been truly enlightening. Anko could not help but smile to herself, it looked like she would not have to leave Kusa without assassinating someone after all.

Oda Hideyori.

Anko remembered meeting the man once, he was some sort of judge or some mildly important official in the Grass Daimyo's Court. Normally for this sort of kill she would prefer to have some back up, inevitably good moles had more power than they revealed, but she would make do. Besides Naruto was a half-decent ninja, or at least he was on his way to it.

Shifting her gaze from the distance she glanced at the blond who was carrying Ryo, who had abandoned her palanquin in favor of his back -much to her maid's distress-, and talking with an older Kusa ninja. Scowling she looked at the ninja that had joined her, he was roughly Naruto's age but seemed a little different.

For one thing he was not wearing the standard straw hat or the unisex uniforms. The boy was dressed in an official kimono, but he wore a Kusa forehead protector. He seemed a bit...harsher than most ninja his age.

"Excuse me but is there any particular reason your staring at me?" The boy asked suddenly, not looking away from the horizon.

"Meh, just picturing what you'd look like bald." Anko retorted, noting how he did not flinch at the comment. "So do you have a name?"

"Utagaibukai Noga." The boy said, turning his attention to her. "So you are a Jonin from Konoha?"

"Yep. One of the best they got!" Anko chirped, studying him without making it obvious.

"And him?" Noga said casually gesturing behind him.

"Who?" Anko said, turning to stare at the group. Then the obviousness of the question hit her and she chuckled. "Naruto? Nah, he's just a Genin..."

"I see."

"He's strong though...got this huge dream of being Hokage that drives him." Anko said conversationally, turning back to stare at the horizon.

"So he wants to be Hokage..." Noga muttered, turning back to study Naruto before facing forward once more.

Anko frowned, to the extent that she could tell the boy was nothing dangerous in terms of chakra capacity and from his motions and the way he held himself she guessed that he had not been a ninja for more than a year or so, and yet...

...he reminded her vaguely of her former sensei.

* * *

"What's Kusa Village like?" Naruto asked, glancing at the Grass ninja at his side while Ryo stumbled along holding his hand. 

"It's like any other Hidden Village." The nin answered blandly.

"That's really helpful." Naruto muttered, before sticking his tongue out at the man.

"Are you really going to become Hokage?" The samurai on his right suddenly asked and Naruto could not help but plaster a wide grin on his face.

"Yep! The greatest Hokage ever!"

The samurai was silent for a moment then he raised an eyebrow. "Can you really do it though? You have no clan right?"

"Clans are overrated." Naruto said defensively, glaring at the samurai. "I'll be Hokage! Believe it."

"Right. Just as soon as I grow a third arm." The samurai muttered looking away as Naruto's glare intensified. He was tired of that, tired of every bastard he told his dream to rolling their eyes or outright laughing. When he was Hokage he was going to find this bastard and show him. He was going to show everyone!

"So Hokage is your goal?" The Grass nin asked, his tone intense.

Naruto blinked looking at him. "Yea...I'm going to be Hokage."

"Hokage." Ryo chirped and grinning Naruto scooped the girl up and deposited her on his shoulders. For some reason, Naruto did not mind her so much anymore and she seemed to have grown extremely fond of him.

The man, his face hidden by his bamboo hat, was silent for a moment. "Is what that samurai said true? You do not have a clan?"

"What is it with this damn clan question?!" Naruto responded loudly. "They're not that great or anything."

"I agree, one's clan says little about one's intrinsic worth. Still a powerful clan can be an invaluable asset in the political world of a Hidden Village." The Grass nin said, reaching up to shift his bamboo hat revealing his average-looking face. "I am Akera Magbei, future Sousui of Kusagakure."

Naruto stared at the man curiously, taking in his odd green-yellow eyes. He had never seen those kind of eyes before and really they were the only outstanding thing about the man's face. Then he registered what the man said and blinked. "Don't you mean Kusakage?"

"Kusa is not one of the Five." Magbei answered, frowning slightly. "Someday, I hope it will be...but until then Sousui is all we will need."

"Oh." Naruto managed then grinned. "Well great!"

"Yes." Magbei agreed then tilted his head slightly. "You do know it is rude to not tell me your name, since I have given you mine."

"Hehehe! My name's Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto could not help but smile even more.

"I will remember that name." Magbei said seriously, nodding. "I will carve it into my memory, the name of one who will become Hokage."

Naruto silent for a moment then grinned, nodding to himself. "I'll do the same for you!"

"What about me?" Ryo suddenly interjected leaning forward, sounding put out. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her then laughed when she mimicked him.

"I'm sure we'll both remember your name too." Magbei said seriously, with a hint of a smile before shifting his bamboo hat back into place.

* * *

One-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine, two-thousand, two-thousand-and-one...Anko stopped counting steps long enough to take in her surroundings. It was a sharply rising hill, covered with brittle yellow grass flanked on either side by even larger grass covered hills. 

Looking back she saw Naruto, then looked around at the field stretching out before her. It was a vast plain made up of thorny vines and other odd plants that Anko was quite sure were very toxic if handled improperly. It was a virtual death walk if they were guided improperly.

Then she spotted the village, dead center, it was located on the other side of a fast-flowing river that was spanned by a wooden bridge. To the east of the village the land was flat and somewhat higher.

Most importantly however was that for protection -besides the highly dangerous plants- was the wall that stretched to enclose the entire village. It was not as imposing as the wall which surrounded Konaha, barely a quarter its height, but still it would buy some time for its defenders if Kusa were ever attacked.

"Naruto! Get up here." Seconds later the blond joined her, Ryo absent from his side. Anko felt her annoyance bubble at that, she had told him to always keep that girl near him. Not taking her eyes of the vast field in front of her spoke to him, almost in a hiss. "Don't touch anything. I mean it."

"What the hell?" Naruto blinked, staring at her before he turned his gaze to the plain.

"By the way," Anko hissed looking at him. "I thought I told you to keep a close watch on that girl until we were in the village."

The blond glanced at her, then smiled reaching back to scratch his head. "Er...hehehe..."

"Idiot!" Anko hissed glaring at him. "What kind of ninja are you huh?! I suppose you left her with a samurai. Like that could keep an enemy ninja from killing her...they're all wounded."

Naruto squinted at her, then stuck his tongue out. "At least I'm not dressed like a damn hooker!"

"What-did-you-say?" Anko grated out, eyes narrowing as a wave killer intent started to radiate off her.

"I didn't stutter." Naruto said evenly.

"Ok runt, you get your ass movin' while I escort Ryo." Anko said sweetly, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. She would teach the little brat to back talk her. Watching him scowling as he walked forward Anko grinned and cupped a hand around her mouth. "Hey! Watch out for the Man Eating Fly Traps!"

"What?!" Naruto shouted, turning to look at her, eyes wide in fear. Seeing Anko's continued glare and smile he turned and continued on his way, mumbling.

Anko watched him closely, noting that Noga was following his lead. Scowling she motioned for everyone else to go ahead, taking Ryo's hand the instant she was close enough.

* * *

Naruto was, even if no one would admit it, on average a good judge of character. He was not sure why or how he had developed this 'ability' but he could almost feel instinctively what a person was really like. It was basically, besides his sheer stubbornness, the only reason he had managed to survive long enough to reach Genin. 

Thus, the strange boy walking beside him through this odd valley of plants, puzzled him. Naruto could feel a sense of unease in his stomach, a vague feeling of badness...yet the boy had yet to say a word outside of introducing himself. So Naruto did the only thing he could think of, put the boy as far out of his mind as he possibly could.

It was a red, almost orange, colored flower that caught his attention. It was large, reaching his knee, and he wondered if maybe Sakura would like it. He even reached out to pluck said flower when a firm hand grasped his wrist stopping him short. Blinking in surprise he looked up at Noga who was staring at him with intent yellow-green eyes.

"I wouldn't do that." The boy said after a moment as Naruto yanked his arm free and stood upright once more.

"Why not? It's just a flower. Sakura-chan would love it!" Naruto said glancing at the flower once more. How could she not love it? That color was almost perfect for her.

"That plant is called a Chihana, literally Blood Flower," Noga said blandly. "I highly doubt that any girl would appreciate a flower that spits a flesh dissolving venom."

"Er...right." Naruto said taking a half step away from the plant, noting it intently before glancing back at the boy who was walking once more. Grumbling the blond started walking as well, knowing that the polite thing would be to thank the boy but he just did not have that in him.

After several minutes Noga spoke up once more, his tone bland as ever. "...Do you really intend to become Hokage?"

"Yep!" Naruto answered enthusiastically, he was always willing to discuss his goal! "The Greatest Hokage ever!"

"Why?" Noga asked, glancing to the left at a variety of plants.

"To make everyone acknowledge me." Naruto said seriously.

"I see..." Noga said lightly, before pointing at a group of vines with a delicious looking red fruit creeping close to the path. "Those small vines with the fruit are called Hybernia Vines, they induce forgetfulness and a very slow death."

Naruto was silent for a moment then looked at him. "You're smart!"

"Kusa ninja are experts in poisons and plants." Noga said casually, glancing at him. "Unlike you soft Konoha ninja, we grow up with our lives depending on our knowledge."

"Oh..." Naruto said before bristling slightly. "Oi! Soft? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am a Genin of Kusa, Second eldest son of the Grass Daimyo and stronger than you." Noga said disdainfully glaring at Naruto. "To be Hokage so that people will acknowledge you? That is a pointless goal, those that are weaker than you are little more than feeble sheep. Why would anyone wish for their acknowledgment? Fear should be your goal, they should fear you. That is the only acknowledgment worth anything."

"Oi!" Naruto shouted grabbing the boys arm and yanking him around violently. "Take that back!"

"Do not touch me." Noga said, his eyes narrowed as he wrenched his arm free. "Anyone that wishes to be a Kage is not much better than a rabid dog. The Kage system is a sickness, a plague of the human race! To do real good you must overturn that archaic system and create a new role. You have to conquer people's fear and use it to control them.

"You!" Naruto shouted before lashing out blindly. The result was a satisfying crunch as his knuckles clashed against the Daimyo's son's cheek, knocking him off his feet. Naruto stood there for a moment, then snorting in disgust turned and stormed on ahead leaving the boy behind.

Sitting up, Noga touched his bruised cheek as he spit out blood, then narrowing his eyes climbed to his feet staring intently after the blond.

* * *

Anko could feel her patience wearing thin as the Kusa gate guards argued with Magbei about some inane little procedural detail. It was all she could do to keep from slaughtering them and letting herself through the gate. Even Naruto, who was now back to carrying Ryo was looking highly agitated, which was not such a surprise really. 

Finally, just before Anko snapped, the gates swung open and Magbei lead the group inside the walls of Kusa Village. Well, not really a village, it was odd or at least a village in the sense that she was used to. The buildings all lseemed to be built up of plants grown from the ground, leaving her a feeling that she was walking in some sort of bizarre forest.

It was definitely strange and she did not like it. She knew enough about Grass Nins to know they were strongest when surrounded by nature and this village was nothing but nature.

Suddenly, Magbei stopped walking and turned, facing them. "Welcome, to Kusa Village." That said he motioned with his hand toward a group of samurai, even as the escorting ninja peeled away. "We have prepared proper lodgings for your group and the Sousui has made his private bath house available to you."

"On behalf of everyone thank you." Taishi said politely, inclining his head ever so slightly. "As for our wounded?"

"Ah yes, well don't worry I'm sure the Sousui will make sure they are well cared for." Magbei said with a genial smile.

Anko however could feel eyes on her and she tensed, readying for an ambush. Magbei seemed to see it and quickly explained, his tone soothing. "Please forgive the villagers. They are not used to strangers."

"Meh," Anko allowed then focused her attention on Naruto who was standing next to her. "Oi, give Ryo to one of the samurai."

Naruto hesitated, obviously remembering what she had said to him earlier, but he did as ordered and then without so much as a polite word or bow Anko started walking in a random direction motioning for him to follow her, which he did. There were several reason she had separated them from the group but primarily she was a woman of her word and she had promised Naruto ramen.

The shop they found was small, crammed between larger buildings, and oddly enough it seemed to have built out of something other than a natural material, it almost looked like rusted metal that had been fused together. Not that it mattered, given Naruto's infatuation with ramen Anko figured anything would be fine.

A thin, balding man behind the counter beamed at the two of them as they entered the shop. As soon as he was sure they were not about to leave, he gave them a customary greeting "Welcome to Loa no Ramen." Which Anko waved off, glancing at Naruto curiously.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Naruto asked as he took his seat beside Anko, who was already ordering dango, ramen and sake.

"We won't be needed just yet." Anko muttered, glancing at him. "You noticed that the others were getting cleaned up right?"

"Yea..." Naruto said scowling slightly. "Shouldn't we be doing that?"

"No." Anko said flatly, grabbing her sake as soon as it was put in front of her. "Haven't you noticed that all the Grass Ninja are extra clean? They've got their Daimyo here...we're Konoha Ninja, the only one we clean up for is our Daimyo. Besides, the ninja will notice the blood on our clothes...that's a good intimidation factor."

"Oh." Naruto said, his attention diverting to his ramen which he quickly attacked, much to the amusement of Anko who selected one of her sticks of dango. A moment of silence passed over them, silence in which Anko began to wonder just how much ramen the boy could pack away -he was already on his eighth bowl!-.

"So! How'd I do? Huh?" Naruto suddenly asked, his tone excited and staring at her expectantly.

"I..." Anko hesitated, unsure of what to say. Scowling for a moment she thought about it then nodded. "Better than my first teammates."

"Really?!" Naruto said happily turning back to his ramen.

"Yea...you're still alive." Anko scowled turning back to her dango and sake. "That's a vast difference between you and them." Coughing Naruto hit his chest before staring at her. Grinning Anko glanced at him, her eyes almost gleaming. "Something wrong?"

"No!" Naruto shouted, before returning to his meal reluctantly.

Grinning Anko took a vicious bite out of her dango, shifting to a different subject. "So, why'd you hit Noga?"

"He insulted the Hokage and said that the only way to real power was to control people through fear." Naruto growled, snapping a chopstick. Cursing he tossed the broken stick aside and selected a new set.

"I see." Anko muttered, eyebrows drawing together. So Noga and her former sensei thought the same way about power, that was interesting. Thank Kami Noga did not have any real strength or power as a ninja, he was just some minor Grass Genin...otherwise it would be Orochimaru all over again.

In Anko's opinion one was enough.

"Hey, Anko?" Naruto suddenly asked, staring at his empty ramen bowl.

"Hn?"

"What was your first mission like?" Naruto asked curiously, looking at her.

"None of your business." Anko answered sharply, focusing on her dango. She did not want to talk about that...that atrocity...

"Please?" Naruto pleaded and Anko sighed setting her dango down before glaring at him.

"My first mission was nothing like yours." Anko said firmly, narrowing her eyes.

"I just..." Naruto started then stopped scowling slightly. "I don't know anything about you..."

Anko snorted, grabbing her dango and taking an extra vicious bite out of it. Anko knew what he wanted, he wanted something to judge his own actions against. Anko had wanted the same damn thing from Orochimaru. Still, did not mean it was a good idea to tell him about her fist mission.

If only she had known then what she now knew about her former sensei...

Sighing Anko began talking without thinking. "Nanking was not a pleasant mission. The mission started simple enough but things got out of control quickly. It was during the war with the Stone, back toward the beginning, before Oro-sensei left on his quest."

"W-was it..." Naruto hesitated then stared at her. "Did you kill anyone?"

"Yea." Anko drawled, glaring darkly at her sake. "This tastes like water." Setting it down hard she glanced at him. "Nanking was a piss ant village on the Earth Country's border...but they were using it to launch attacks against Waterfall. So my team was ordered to solve the problem."

"Wow." Naruto breathed staring at her, his awe was hard to miss.

Anko bristled turning to lock eyes with him, her angry boiling up. "Don't you say 'wow', it was a pointless mission that should have never happened the way it did!"

Naruto frowned slightly but wisely kept his mouth shut as Anko forced herself to calm back down. "Aw, what the hell am I getting worked up about. Look, this was your first kill and things will get easier. Just don't dwell on it ok?"

"Yea...but..." Naruto hesitated, face softening, as his hand reached for his chest. "I feel like...somethings wrong with me. The more I think about it the less I feel, the more detached."

Anko scowled for a moment then reached out and picked up her cup of sake and handed it to him. "Just means your taking a step toward being a real ninja." When Naruto just stared at the drink she chuckled. "Hurry up runt, we've gotta go make sure the ambassador isn't murdered or something."

Standing she watched as Naruto first sniffed the drink and then took a tentative sip. His face contorted and he spewed the vile liquid across the counter. Anko could not help but laugh, both at the foul look on Naruto's face and the even fouler look on the ramen chef's.

* * *

They were quickly met by samurai clad in green and black and who led through the moderately busy streets toward the center of the village. As the Grass Samurai led them deeper into the building, and Naruto quickly became lost, he would never find his way out without some form of help. 

They climbed winding, defensible stairs, and went along additional corridors and up more stairs. Shafts of sunlight from the wall embrasures cast intricate patterns across the floor as Naruto stole glances out the windows, when he could, to judge how high they had climbed. Then suddenly the corridor they were in turned a sharp corner sharply and ended fifty paces away.

They were greeted by massed samurai, each in green and black uniforms protecting a door. Each with right hand on the sword hilt, left on the scabbard, motionless and ready. Their focus never wavered from the group and it was quickly explained by the officer -a middle-aged man- that, while the Fire Samurai could remained remain armed, both ninja would have to surrender their weapons.

"Anko?" Naruto asked curiously staring at the dark haired woman.

"Go ahead." Then she gave them a look that clearly said 'Give them the obvious weapons.' Naruto picked up the cue and he quickly produced his weapons pouch and kunai leg holster. Disarmed for the most part, the officer motioned to the rest of his men who moved aside allowng the captain to open the thick door before turning to bow them through.

The first thing that struck Naurto was the fact that for all the pomp the room was not very large or impressive. The kneeling mats were even faded and they had chosen to go with the odd color scheme of Green and black. Geez, what was up with this obsession? Over all, in Naruto's opinion, the place was sorely lacking in atmosphere.

Now maybe if they had some orange and pink here an there...

Naruto blinked, noticing that he was the only one still standing in the doorway and quickly hurried to catch up to the group where they were all now standing before a dais near the center of the room. Not even Naruto -distracted as he was by his musing about pink and orange furniture- could not miss the five samurai kneeling in a circle around the dais nor the ten kneeling on each side of the room, all silently focused on the man sitting on atop the dias dais silently.

Several minutes passed where no one acknowledged the group, much to Naruto's mounting annoyance. Geez, could they sit down already or at least start talking? Ugh! Fine if everyone else wanted to play quiet mouse still mouse then he was going to ask the damn question.

"Oi! Can we sit down already?!" Naruto demanded belligerently, arms crossed.

All eyes within his group flashed to Naruto while the seated man, dressed in surprisingly simple but clean robes, turned his gaze upon him. The seated man's gaze was steady and Naruto felt an almost overwhelming power reach out, rooting him in his place. Geez this was just freaky!

Then the man shifted his gaze to the ambassador, offering a faint smile. "Please, have a seat."

Letting out a breath he did not realize he had been holding Naruto sat down, propping a hand on his knee and glaring around him.

"Daimyo Utagaibukai." Taishi said cordially.

"Ambassador." Utagaibukai replied politely. "I have heard that you had a minor problem on the trip to Kusa."

"Yes. Unfortunately a band of Missing-Nins ambushed us." Taishi answered gravely before relaxing. "Thankfully our Konoha Ninja and Fire Country Samurai escort was more than enough to handle the problem."

"Thankfully." Utagaibuki agreed, then shifted his gaze to the red headed girl held in the arms of a red clad samurai. "This is Kasigi Ryo?"

"Yes. The papers will be summoned shortly, security has been extra tight." Taishi nodded then glanced at something to the left of the Daimyo. "I thought that the Sousui would be present for this."

"Oh. Did you not know? Sadly the last Kusa Sousui died due to ill health a week ago. Thankfully Kusa managed to select a new Sousui and he hurried to lead a group of his fellow ninja to meet you as scheduled."

Silence.

Naruto scowled, wondering who in the hell they would have selected as their new leader. He prayed it was not Noga, that little prick didn't deserve to run a ninja village. Sadly he could not figure out who it would be, yet he felt like he was forgetting something...or someone...Ugh! Who the hell was it?!

"I am sorry to hear that, if our Daimyo had known...or the Hokage..." Taishi offered weakly only to be waved off by the Grass Daimyo.

"It is of no real consequence." Pausing the older man turned as one of the doors at the back of the room opened and a tall young man with a plain face and yellow-green eyes entered the room. He stopped, scanned the group then smiled faintly locking his gaze on Naruto. Coming to the front he bowed in greeting to the ambassador and Ryo then moved to join the Daimyo on the dias. As he passed Naruto heard him whisper.

"I told you I'd be Sousui!"

"No way!" Naruto shouted, watching as Magbei sat on a mat just bellow the Grass Daimyo on the dias.

"I see you to know each other." The Daimyo said genially, addressing Naruto. "I trust you also met my son Noga, he is quite anxious to participate in the Chunin Exams."

"Him?" Naruto blurted, eyes wide and the Daimyo allowed an odd smile to flitter across his face.

"Yes, he is the most suited for the task." The Daimyo glanced out of a high, narrow window then looked back at the Ambassador. "If you do not mind, I would like to wait for Hittori before we attend to this important matter."

"Of course, we wouldn't dream of doing this without the esteemed Regent of Kusa."

"Oh, you've already heard of his promotion?" The Daimyo asked blandly, but even Naruto could see the way his eyes narrowed as if in surprise. "He was only just announced as the Regent a few days ago."

"I over heard it when we arrived my lord." Taishi said, his voice however betrayed a certain smugness that had Naruto smirking in satisfaction.

* * *

Magbei smiled at the nurse politely as she led him into the small examination room, the girl returned the smile shyly then departed, leaving the Sousui alone. Glancing at the mostly white room he cracked his neck then walked over to the examination table and hopped on, staring at the door expectantly. 

Seconds later the door opened and a young woman, with short black haired and an outfit that hugged her figure perfectly, entered the room. "Sousui-sama."

"Aww, Sae-chan...you can still call me Magbei." The young man complained, smiling as charmingly as he could at her.

"I am the chief doctor on duty." Sae said airily, even as she closed the door and walked over to the counter. "Proper protocol must be observed."

"Oh give me a break." Magbei muttered, following her with his eyes before glancing at the counter where she was working a minor summoning to produce his medical file. "Sae-chan, we've skinny dipped together for Kami's sake. I think protocol can be set aside between us."

"Right...just as soon as there is a ring on this finger." The woman in question said holding her left hand up and wiggling the ring finger. "Until then you are the Sousui of Kusa."

"Geez." Magbei sighed looking away.

"Now what exactly brings you by? Did you get injured on this escort trip?"

"Nah, nothing like that." Magbei paused then lowered his voice. "Uhh...Sae-chan, you think you could make sure that you are my primary physician? I really don't trust anyone else with my body."

Sae glanced at him, a teasing smile on her lips. "Oh, don't worry I have already taken care of that. Besides, I have plans for that body." Becoming serious again she crossed her arms, turning to rest against the counter. "So what brings you by if you are not hurt?"

"We've signed the new Non-aggression treaty with Fire Country." Magbei said, his tone equally serious. "The Daimyo however does not plan on honoring it, he's got an insane plan...but that's not really why I'm here, though if a ninja shows up with a girl named Ryo I want you to run as far as you can with her."

Sae blinked then nodded. "Of course. Now why are you here?"

"Well...it's nothing too serious I'm just curious for your opinions on someone." Magbei answered and then seeing her attention laid out everything he had observed and heard about Naruto. It took a full twenty minutes to cover all the details, including going back to clarify some things when Sae asked him to. Finally he reached the end and sighed leaning back on his hands. "So what'cha think?"

"Without a sample of his blood and a very secure location to test it I can not really be sure." Sae answered chewing her bottom lip. "But if, within a span of twenty-four hours, his shoulder healed completely and he was acting as if nothing was ever wrong I would say there is a strong possibility he has an advanced bloodline."

"He does not have a clan though."

"Well...there are lost clans," Sae said slowly, almost scowling, "clans who were exterminated for one reason or another. During the ninja wars there were a large number of clans that were targeted, whole families wiped out by the warring factions. Also, in some parts of the world, clans with bloodlines are greatly feared by the common people and thus their members tend to fall prey to mob violence. He could have come from one of them."

"Maybe." Magbei allowed then shook his head, wishing he could have a more concrete answer.

"Magbei-kun, I know why your so interested in him." Sae suddenly said, her reddish eyes softening. "He does sound an awful lot like you when we were growing up...an orphan who was rejected, but do you really think it's a good idea to care so much about him? If we are going to act against Konoha he will probably be involved in the fighting."

"He's going to be Hokage though." Magbei said, smiling faintly. He could not explain in words how he could believe those words so completely. Yet the instant he had heard the child declare that his dream was 'To be Hokage' Magbei had known the boy was not just another Konoha ninja.

"You actually believe that?" Sae asked seriously, leaning forward slightly to stare at him intently. She always did this when they were talking about such important matters.

"Yes. Uzumaki Naruto is going to be somebody important." Magbei grinned slightly, sitting upright. "I just feel it...that's why I'm giving him my family scroll."

"WHAT?!" Sae shouted staring at him in shock. "Are you a complete baka?! Giving him that scroll? Do you realize what you would be giving him?"

"Easy Sae-chan..."

"Don't you 'Sae-chan' me!" The young woman fumed glaring at him. "You honestly want to give your families scroll to this Konoha ninja that thinks he will grow up to be Hokage?"

"Well, uhmm...yea." Magbei admitted shyly. "But let me explain why!"

"It had better be a damn good explanation Akera Magbei."

"It is!" The Sousui said hastily then nodded. "I'll admit, I have not known Naruto very long...but he is enough like me that I feel compelled to help him. Plus, the scroll is not so special, when I was a kid I just found some obscure Kusa jutsus and wrote them down."

"But you said it was all you had left of your family!" Sae retorted incredulously.

"I lied." Magbei said then grinned. "Besides, I can always make another 'family scroll'..."

"Magbei, that is not the point. You will be helping a Konoha ninja, they have nearly ruined our country. It would be a betrayal of all of our ancestors."

"Sae-chan..." Magbei said then narrowed his eyes. "Konoha ninja are not our enemies, and when he becomes Hokage I would rather that he count us as friends. Besides I have more important things to worry about, like what our illustrious Daimyo is planning.

"Magbei-kun this is...you are gambling our safety on a boy?"

"Naruto is going to be in a position to control the most dominant military force on this continent someday and I would prefer to have him remember me as someone that helped him out."

"...You just don't get it do you." Sae said hopelessly staring at him.

Magbei slid off the examination table, meeting her gaze evenly. "Arai-san, you are the one that does not get it. I am not interested in a war that happened fifty or a hundred years ago, or the agenda of petty politicians. All I am interested in is protecting my village, and maybe someday trading Sousui for Kusakage."

That said he tried to give her a quick kiss on the lips but Sae turned her head, not relaxing her posture one bit. Sighing the young man shook his head and turned, leaving the room behind. His shoulders were tense and he looked more serious than ever in the entire time he had lived in the village.

Inside his pocket he felt a small box press against his hand. Clutching it he sighed and shook his head.

Someday he would ask...

* * *

"Uh...why are we sleeping outside again?" Naruto asked as laid out his sleeping roll across from the log that Anko was sitting on. 

"It's safer." Anko answered curtly, scowling. "We messed up someone's plans on our way here and sleeping in the Inn near the others would only put them at greater risk."

"Huh? Why us? I thought they were after Ryo? Shouldn't we be protecting her?" Naruto grumbled, obviously annoyed.

"Baka. Ryo has been delivered. Her safety is Kusa's job now. No, we will be targeted because we interfered with their job. It's an honor thing."

"Hnn. But how is it safer out here?" Naruto continued to grumble, flopping on his bedding to stare up at the sky.

"Well, you hear all those insects?" Anko retorted, closing her eyes preparing herself for the assassination attempt she knew was coming.

"Yea."

"Well they'll go quiet when someone starts approaching. They're used to us so they don't care what we do as long as we stay relatively quite, but outsiders will startle them." Anko explained slipping a kunai out of her forearm holster. "Not even ANBU can keep insects from noticing them, as a matter of fact I can count only two people that could move with such stealth that even nature would not notice them."

"Huh? Who?"

"Jiraiya-sama and the Yondaime." Anko answered softly, concentrating. "Which shouldn't be a surprise since Jiraiya trained the Yondaime."

"Whoa." Naruto said, sitting up in his bed. "So even your sensei could not move that quietly?"

"He had other tricks, but he was pretty damn close to it." Anko retorted, glancing to her right. "Did you know Naruto, that according the Ancestor myths there is a land that is perpetually covered in ice and snow? Not like Snow country, either, but so cold that the ice never melts. Were humans are animals with fur and live in caves made of ice."

"Huh?" Naruto scratched the back of his head curiously. "Ancestors?"

"You've never heard of them?" Anko asked, surprise filling her tone. "I thought everyone knew of them."

"Er...well of course I know of them!" Naruto said, obviously lying.

"...The Ancestors were an ancient people, they were almost gods." Anko said, snorting. "They could travel to the stars and the depths of the ocean. They were powerful and ruled the whole planet, it's said they had weapons that were more powerful than any jutsu."

"...No way." Naruto breathed and Anko grinned faintly, remembering the first time that Jiraiya and Orochimaru had told her the story.

"The Ancestor's could store whole libraries of knowledge so that they took up no more than a stack of scrolls and heal almost any disease, create life from nothing." Anko continued, still toying with her kunai. "The God's grew jealous and angry...but they also feared the Ancestors."

"Why?" Naruto asked, leaning forward anxiously.

"Because, the Ancestors were on the cusp of something that only the god's themselves possessed." Anko said slowly meeting his gaze. "Immortality, it was within their grasp and they asked of creation 'who can compare to our greatness'. The god's could not allow it, they struck down the ancestors. The god's struck with cataclysmic earthquakes, floods and when those had failed to cripple the Ancestor's the god's opened the gates of hell on them."

"Wha?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

"The god's sent oni of all sorts, twisted and malformed spirits and even the fearsome Tailed-Demons, like the Kyuubi, to destroy them." Anko explained calmly. "Many of the demons were destroyed in their war with the Ancestors, but ultimately the Ancestors and their civilization was destroyed. Yet the God's were unable to destroy all of the Ancestor's knowledge or the descendants of the Ancestor's."

"Descendants?" Naruto asked with a frown in his tone before blinking. "You mean the children?"

"You really didn't think that such a powerful race could have been destroyed completely? Of course some survived and those few are why and how we use jutsus."

"Why didn't Iruka-sensei tell us this stuff in the academy?!" Naruto exclaimed. "This is why more interesting than most everything else he taught us."

"It's not a well know piece information." Anko said, staring at him. "I only know because two of the Sannin's shared an interest in them."

"Do you really think they existed?" Naruto asked after a moment, laying back on his bed and Anko shook her head.

"Doesn't matter, they're gone now." Staring at his stretched out form she sighed. "Get some sleep brat, you've got second watch." She listened closely until she heard his soft snores and then she relaxed slightly. If there was going to be an attack she preferred it happen while he was sleeping.

Who would it be? One of the ninja that had escorted them or a samurai? It was too bad that Hideyori himself was in the capital or she'd have gutted him well before now. Well until then she would just wait, closing her eyes she allowed herself a few moments of peace.

Anko jerked into alertness and threw herself into a forward shoulder roll as a hail of weapons crashed into the log she had been dozing on. Reaching Naruto's side she grabbed his shoulder yanking him out of his sleeping roll just as another series of deadly objects rained down.

"Huh? Wha?!" Naruto managed, trying desperately to wake up while Anko literally dragged him to the only place they would have cover at. "Anko? Whas gon on?" He managed to ask, the entire time yawning.

Scowling she shoved him against the fallen tree, eyes darting everywhere. "Were being attacked you idiot. Now stay quiet." That hissed she strained to hear where the next attack would come from but instead her the rapid rustling of leaves, signaling that a ninja was attempting to escape. "Like hell your getting away." Anko hissed before leaping into the trees and gave chase to the noise.

Branches, trees and bush whipped past, her eyes focused entirely on the movement ahead; she was closing the distance. Timing her leap with his she produced a kunai and let it fly in a smooth execution, which rewarded her with a scream from in front. Smiling in mild satisfaction Anko sped onwards bursting into a clear to find the ninja waiting, a dark spot spreading at his waist.

The ninja started to form hand seals the second she appeared but Anko cut him short by throwing another kunai , piercing his shoulder to render one arm useless. The man grabbed his shoulder for a moment before reaching for his kunai holster with his good arm. In that moment Anko moved, flipping out of the tree she landed and darted in a slightly zig-zag pattern before striking.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he swept his dagger at her desperately trying to buy himself room but Anko ducked it and slipping an arm around his, as she drove a kunai deep into his other shoulder. She followed this up with a palm-heel to his chin and a kick to the knee toppling him. The instant he collapsed onto his back she drove a knee into his solar plexus, another kunai coming out to press against his throat.

Seconds later she heard the crashing noise of a hurrying Naruto, she looked up just as he burst into the clearing in a dead run. "Damn it!" Naruto shouted skidding to a halt, his breathing ragged. "Did he get awa..." The boy suddenly trailed off and Anko narrowed her eyes.

"Are you...A-anko are you going to?" Naruto gulped keeping a careful distance from her.

Anko could feel a hint of imbalance in his emotions, this was why she had waited for him to catch up. Turning back she stared into the horrified ninja's face, her tone cold. "Death is our art. We make it every day with our hands. And part of us becomes desperate to know: What's it like?"

Suddenly her hand made a slicing motion, spraying blood into her face. She remained seated through the man's death throes and did not move or speak until he was finished. Nodding she stood, kunai held loosely in her hand as she turned to stare at Naurto under the moonlight. "Ninja are death personified. Even Hokages, and you better accept that..."

Naurto stared at her then looked away.

"When I'm fighting," The woman said conversationally while wiping the bloodied blade on the back of her hand. "It's like the whole world goes away. Everything boils down to I'm gonna win, and they're gonna lose."

"B-but you killed him...even after he was helpless." Naruto said, eyes wide staring at her once more.

"Yea and he would have killed us if I had been soft hearted." Anko said blandly, looking up at Naruto sharply. "I didn't chose to be like this, I would have loved to be like Kurenai. I would have loved to grow up dating and thinking about nail polish."

Slipping her kunai back into her holster her face grew hard. "I was baptized in blood, like you. My sensei made sure I could be the best killer ever, so excuse me Naruto if when faced with a man that would happily kill me, I happily kill him instead."

There was a moment of silence following her tirade and then Naruto stared at her intently.

"So...Am I going to be like you?"

"No." Anko said after a moment starting back for the camp. "You're going to curse every life you take...but you'll accept it as part of the job."

"Huh?"

Anko turned back to stare at him, eyes sad even though he could not tell in the darkness.

"That'll be the difference Naruto...you'll keep your humanity." She stopped when she heard the hurried steps behind her and then almost cursed when she felt him wrap his arms around her.

For a moment she wondered what the hell he was doing and then it registered, despite his clumsiness, he was trying to hug her. She waited several moments and then spoke up her tone edged with a threat. "Stop being a damn moron and get back to camp. Its your turn to keep watch."

When Naruto released her and walked ahead silently, she wondered...why?

* * *

The air was dry, yet cool, with just enough clouds peppering the sky that there was hope for rain. The upside was that it would be greatly appreciated, the downside was that the clouds blocked much of the light from the brightening sky. This meant it was not dark out, which in turn meant Naruto was not wasting his training time. 

True for any accuracy he had to almost squint, but he could make out the vague target he had designed -Sasuke's face pinned to a tree- and sent his kunai hurtling. It struck a few inches off center, grumbling he produced a brace of shuriken for each hand and launched them.

Sadly only one or two even hit the tree, the others scattered into the darkened make shift training area.

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted sitting down heavily and glaring at the tree. Why did he suck at using weapons? He was picking up the taijutsu fast enough, he could even use both jutsus that his sensei had taught him moderately well...so why was it that he could not use weapons even half as good as anyone from the academy?

He had no talent with the damn things...but he could not just give up, he needed to learn.

To be Hokage meant a lot of practice.

Now though, now it was dark and, as much as he hated to admit it, he could not really see in the dark. Plus his body was starting to protest the lack of sleep, yet he remained where he was knowing that if he stopped practice he would start thinking. If he was not clowning or practicing or working he would start seeing the man's face that he had killed...and he would feel queasy.

Naruto was not a killer and yet he had felt a momentary thrill.

That scared him.

Shaking it all off he quietly climbed to his feet and walked forward, gathering his weapons before glancing at his slumbering teacher. She had not approved of his hug, but she had sounded like a lot of the kids he remembered...and that was what everyone did to make other people happy. He did not understand...maybe he had hugged her the wrong way.

Sighing he sat down heavily once more and crossed his arms, utterly confused...which meant his mind started to roam. Scowling he started telling himself joke after joke, determined to keep it all locked away and to do as Anko had said...he was going to accept it.

He was...

...and he wasn't crying, he had just pulled a muscle!

* * *

Leaning against the wall beside the only gate leading into Kusa, Anko kept glancing curiously at the gathered Kusa ninja. They were not clumped together, yet it was obvious they were more than passively curious. To make matters worse, none of them were from the group that escorted them into the village yesterday. 

"That baka, if we have to wait one more minute..." Anko muttered, beginning to twirl a kunai on her finger.

Narrowing her eyes she considered the village and everything that had happened there. Her early morning report would reach the Hokage about noon...sighing she closed her eyes for a moment before catching her kunai so that she could cross her arms and prop her foot up against the wall.

His loud energetic voice chattering happily reached her first and then she saw the blond, walking toward them talking animatedly with the Sousui and Ryo in his orange jacket holding his hand.

"...I didn't think that actually came off." Anko muttered staring at the jacket, which practically swallowed the girl. Snorting she glanced back at Naruto this time paying attention to what he was wearing, it took her a moment to register but finally the black shirt and orange pants combo hit her.

"Don't worry, I will personally be watching over her." The Sousui said, smiling as he ruffled Ryo's hair.

Anko rolled her eyes, she was impatient and wasn't going to hide it. She wanted to be back in Fire Country borders where she could get another mission.

"'Aruto!"

"Ryo!"

"'Aruto!"

Anko reached up and rubbed the bridge of her nose, turning away from those two hugging and acting so damn stupid. She felt the shift in weight and opened her eyes to see the ambassador and his samurai all grinning. Gods why couldn't they just get moving so this would all be over with?

Seeing a stray viper she hurled her kunai severing its head, good. Nasty things vipers. "We don't have all day!" Anko interjected suddenly, letting her annoyance bleed through.

"Bah!" Came Naruto's response but he quickly joined the team near the gate.

"So what kept you?" Anko asked, frowning at him. Seeing the way his smile widened she glowered darkly. "Well? We've been waiting for you all this time and now your not even going to offer an explanation?"

"Yup!" Naruto said turning to wave at a crying Ryo, his own eyes watering up.

"Come on, moron." Anko almost growled, reaching out to grab the back of his shirt and drag him behind her as the group started walking, with a Kusa ninja in the lead and one of the Daimyo's son under Fire Samurai guard.

Anko sighed. "So are you going to tell me or not?"

Naruto, smiling pulled free then put his hands behind his head. "It's noneya"

"Noneya?" Anko repeated blankly staring at him.

He nodded, trying and failing to look serious. "Noneyabusiness."

"...You do remember we're practicing taijutsu when we get back?"

Naruto paled.


	8. Chapter 7: New Team

Naruto: **Altered History**  
Volume Two: Demons and Unity!  
Chapter 7:  
_-New Team-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

The Uchiha Clan. 

The largest, most powerful clan in Konoha. They possessed the feared Bloodline Limit the Sharingan, which while unable to compete with the Byakugan in reading ability, could copy any move and offer a sort of telepathy. They had even formed and still made up the bulk of the Konoha Military Police Force.

To be Uchiha was to be second to no one.

Yet Uchiha Sasuke had failed in this regard. It was one thing to be outshone by the likes of Itachi, who was so insanely brilliant and powerful that not even their father could control the ninja. It was an entirely another thing to be outshone by Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, the dead last loser from the academy.

For several years, Sasuke had been first and had taken a mild delight in rubbing it in the boy's face. Yet not too long ago, having allowed his pride and desire to show off for a pink-haired team mate get the better of him, Sasuke had fought with Naruto and though the advantage had been his for most of the fight Naruto had actually won.

Somehow, that blond moron had found a way to get inside Sasuke defenses and strike him.

Therefore, no matter how well he did on his mission to Wave Country, no matter how much Sakura assured him that he was great and strong, Sasuke could feel his chin burning from the weak blow. He had tried to analyaze every moment of that fight and could see nothing, all he knew was that Naruto had moved without any body movement. As impossible as that sounded it was true and Uchiha Sasuke was tormented by that fact.

What good were his eyes if he couldn't see his enemy? That was the single question repeating in his mind, making him the single most depressing person ever. Even now, finished with training for the morning, Sasuke was brooding. He couldn't help it, he wanted to know what style Naruto had used and how it could even exist.

"Feh, I _still_ say those Yakuza weren't much!" Kiba suddenly said from his stretched out position in the field, his white dog resting comfortably on his chest. "I beat up like five or six without even breaking a sweat. I don't see why we have to keep training."

Sasuke snorted closing his eyes. Was there any point in bragging about that when you were not even among the top of the Genin group?

"Aha, but those Demon Brothers were insane." Sakura suddenly added, her tone fanciful. "Sasuke-kun handled them perfectly."

"Hn," Sasuke opened his eyes to stare at her. "If you have time to compliment me you should work on your genjutsu." He saw the surprise on her face and allowed a brief smile to show. She blushed faintly and he could tell she would continue praticing well after they were gone. She had said it several times to him, that she would do anything to make him happy.

After the first few times he had told her that he could never like a weakling like her...and she had started putting a great deal of effort into her training. His thoughts however were derailed as a loud and distrubingly familar voice drifted up from the forest.

"Aww...but do we really have to practice taijutsu!? We just did that this morning!"

Sasuke was on his feet in a heartbeat, his every muscle taunt. What was that loser doing out here? Seconds later a battered looking Naruto, who was missing his jacket, and his sensei came striding into view. The woman looked as if she was near a breaking point and Naruto looked as if he was ready to start begging.

"Oi, its Naruto." Kiba said sitting up, which displaced Akamaru. "I can't wait to rub his nose in our completed mission!"

"...You are a real idiot aren't you?" Sasuke muttered, watching as Kiba climbed to his feet and started waving and shouting. It was obvious that Naruto had just gotten back from a mission, possibly a C-ranked mission as well. Sasuke would have felt no surprise at that, after all according to Shikamaru the blond had been gone for almost the same length of time as they had.

"OI! NARUTO!" Kiba shouted cupping his hands around his mouth. Naruto turned and spotted the gray-jacketed boy, waving back enthusiastically. Kiba took a deep breath and then continued his shouting. "Hehe! We completed a C-rank mission! We kicked ass and took names!"

Sasuke saw the annoyance on Anko's face as Naruto grinned while cupping his own hands. "BAH! That's nothing, I just completed a B-rank mission to Grass country!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes staring at the blond in mute anger, aware that Kiba and Sakura were both shocked into silence. They would of course assume he was lying, but Sasuke knew better. He wasn't sure why, or how, but Sasuke knew that Naruto had indeed out preformed him.

Again.

"Geez, he just never stops lying." Kiba grumbled finally, watching as Anko grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him off his feet as they continued on their way to the gates.

Sakura nodded in agreement, frowning ever so slightly. "Yea, as if _that_ Naruto could really do a B-ranked mission."

"He wasn't lying," Sasuke said his tone expressionless. Turning his gaze on Sakura and a surprised Kiba, he continued. "His jacket was missing and both of their packs were nearly empty."

"Ok so he had a mission," Kiba said dismissively as he laid back on the ground near a disgruntled Akamaru. "Still wasn't a B-ranked one."

"If Sasuke-kun said he did, then he did." Sakura suddenly said defensively, glaring at the boy and Sasuke turned away. Balling his fists tightly he heard his knuckles pop, then not saying another word he moved away from the two arguing Genin to begin training once more.

He would not be second to that loser!

* * *

"For the last time Naruto, we are going to practice taijutsu today." Anko grated out, glaring at the boy who was almost pouting. 

"But why?!" Naruto demanded, stopping suddenly.

"First," Anko hissed, stopping as well, a kunai slipping quietly into the palm of her hand. "Because I said we were." Turning she fired it off, forcing the blond to jump aside to avoid getting run through. "Second off, because if that ninja had been any damn good he would have killed you three seconds into that fight."

"No way! I kicked his ass, he couldn't even slow me down." Naruto shouted defiantely, crossing his arms.

Anko however solved his moment of definace with a carefully aimed kunai, then when he dodged that she was in front of him, the blade of another pressed tightly against his throat. Seeing the panic in his eyes she bore down on him with all of her impressive intimdation. "You will practice taijutsu, you will not complain and you will go to that hospital for the examination."

"Bu-" Naruto to protest only to fall silent as the blade pressed even firmer against his throat.

"Do not make me kill you," Anko hissed eyes narrowing. "I'm running out of places to hide the bodies." When Naruto nodded Anko smiled fainlty while slipping the kunai into a pocket. She was actually sort of pleased with the boy's growth so far. He wasn't heartless, probably never would be, _but_ he was strong and he could take a life.

Most importantly, he was leaning how to hide his darker feelings. He had almost perfected that smile and act of foolary to the point that Anko, if she didn't have her connection to him, would never be able to tell if felt anything or not. He was becoming the perfect teammate in Anko's opinion, or at least _her_ perfect teammate.

Still, if she didn't get some time away from Naruto she was going to either kill him or slaughter the first person with blond hair that she saw. Thus the reason why she had told him about the examination, though he still didn't really understand why he had to go.

Seeing the dubious look on his face Anko sighed, trying the only thing that ever seemed to work with Naruto when he was being stubborn. "Listen, I know you don't want to have that exam but it's the best thing for all invovled. Every time you go on a mission you could pick up a disease." Seeing his eyes widening Anko grinned sadistically. "Of course you could be like that one Genin I knew. Came back with a strange skin rash that quickly dissolved his entire body."

"Well I guess if it's important..." Naruto said, eyes wide, obviously warming to the idea.

Anko nodded mentally rubbing her hand together. "Yep! Now remember we have taijutsu training too...so you had better get your ass in gear and head to the hospital. Met me at around noon in the usual spot."

"Right!" Naruto said, before he was up and running away from her.

Stretching Anko stood, chuckling. Life was good. A bounce found its way into her step. She was feeling as if she had finally got the hang of this sensei crap, and Naruto was nothing like most other children. Which meant the Hokage would get to keep his balls...

...for now.

Laughing at that image she entered the Tower, bypassing several disturbed looking office workers and made a B-line for the Mission Hall. Her mood considerably better now that Naruto was no longer around to pester her, she started to consider how best to tease Iruka.

Sadly, she was denied such fun when she entered the mission hall and found Nara Shikaku behind the Mission desk. Damn. Well there went most of her fun, still...when life gives you lemons. Much to Anko's surprise the man, like Iruka, didn't even look up at her entrance.

It wasn't until she had reached the table he was seated at and leaned a hip against it that he moved. Shihaku let his eyes give her body a quick glance, then forced down the appreciative smile that had appeared on his face.

"Where you been?"

Anko tapped a finger against her cheek then smiled sweetly. "Finding out what sort of moves my new teammate has." Seeing his surprise at her double entaree, she leaned forward slightly. "You want to show me your moves?"

"I-I..." Shikaku coughed, easing back slightly. "I don't think...that is...see..."

"Heh." Anko interrupted him, popping her neck before reaching into her jacket to produce a tightly bound scroll. "Mission Report. It was completed successfully,"

"Ahhh..." The Nara man said, relaxing as he started shuffling through papers. "Well that's good; the Hokage told me that he wanted to see you immedately after you got back."

"Huh, what's that ol' bastard want..." Anko muttered before shrugging "Well if that's it I'm gonna go get some real sake before I see that old coot and kick Naruto's ass."

"Riiight." Shikaku said, letting his eyes drift below her neckline.

Seconds later he had diverted his attention, due to the fact that a kunai had appeared from nowhere in Anko's hand and was now spinning around her index finger. Laughing at how easy he was to intimdate she turned away, strutting back toward the doors as they opened to allow a haggered looking Kurenai to enter.

"Boys sure are energetic aren't they?" Anko pured, perpahs a bit to suggestively, seeing the horror on the other woman's face.

"WHA-!" Kurenai whirled around, only to have the door slammed in her face.

Chuckling to herself Anko strode down the hallway, debating about which bar to visit before seeing to Naruto's training then paused remembering that the Hokage wanted to see her. That was unusal to say the least, maybe he wanted to hear her report first hand? Nah, it wasn't that important. Of course he could have another mission for them already, now that was a possibility.

Putting off her sake for the moment Anko altered directions slightly and made her way to the spiraling staircase that would lead to the Hokage office. Reaching the landing quickly Anko hesitated, glancing around, wondering at the lack of security. Normally she could feel various ANBU, even if it was faint, but now there was nothing.

Shrugging it off she walked along the hallway and then, without knocking opened the door to the Hokage's office. She was one of the few people in the world -the other's being the Sannin and Kakashi- that could get away with such an act. Idly she wondered if Naruto would ever get to this point of casualness with the most powerful ninja in the village.

Seeing the old man looking at her intently Anko gave a two fingered salute before crossing the room to flop into her usual seat. "So what's up? Got a new mission for me and my brat or you just want a cheap thrill from seeing me?"

That was when Anko noted the displeasure on the older man's face. Displeasure was bad...had she finally crossed some invisible line?

"Actually, I had wanted to hear a brief rundown on your mission." Sandaime said after a moment before picking his pipe up to light it. "However, I now think for your sake that we should discuss the main reason for wanting to see you."

"Huh?" Anko managed articulately.

"As I said a little over a month ago, Naruto's graduation was somewhat atypical and he was not accounted for when the Genin teams were originally put together." The Sandaime paused as if thinking and then nodded, blowing a smoke ring. "Incorporating him into one of the existing teams then would be difficult; however something has happened that is beneficial for all involved."

"...What are you getting at?" Anko asked slowly sitting forward, a vague thought taking shape in her mind.

"A current Genin has recently injured himself and been forced into retirement. This has created a shortage for his team, which as you know, for Genin is a three-man cell. Naruto, as the only available Genin that is not already in a three-man cell, is therefore being transferred-"

"What!?" Anko shouted standing up as if the seat had bit her. "Naruto is my student!"

"-for the duration until the completion of the Chunin exams." The Sandaime continued calmly. "All this requires is that you allow him to work with another team. He does need to learn how to work with others after all, especially if he wishes to be Hokage someday."

"I refuse." Anko said harshly. "I'm not letting some half-rate, bleeding-heart take Naruto and totally screw up everything I've accomplished with him!"

"Anko-chan, it's not like you won't be training him or taking him out on the occasional mission. He just needs to experience working in a full team."

"...Naruto is the only person in this whole damn village that doesn't care that I had a deranged sociopath as a sensei." Anko said evenly, eyes growing cold. "I trained him! He's my student, my solider! You can't expe-"

"I thought he was a Konoha ninja." Sandaime said cutting her off sharply. "Anko, I assure you that this is for the best."

"...That bitch Kurenai finally got you to bend over and take it didn't she?" Anko said scathingly, eyes narrowing. "It's all her damn idea. Naruto is mine! I'm not going to let some prick that you and that stuck-up pain in the ass bitch selected just take him away!"

Sandaime's face suddenly turned serious, his eyes hardening. Suddenly he was filled with an air of total authority as he stood, intimidating Anko into taking a half step back. "Mitarashi Anko. That is enough! I am Hokage of this village! I am the one who decides who teaches whom. I am the one that decides who goes into battle and who does not."

Breathing heavily he sat back down, his voice still commanding. "Naruto is now a member of Team Nine. He will meet his new team tonight at eight in training area nine. He will be fit for duty. Do I make myself clear?"

"As glass." Anko muttered turning to storm out of the office.

"Anko...he needs to be on a three man team for the Chunin exams, I would prefer he had some experience with them before then."

"No need to explain." Anko said coldly turning as she opened the door. "I understand, you can't risk the heartless murdering bitch creating a heartless murdering bastard." Then before the Hokage could say another word, she stalked out of the office slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Naruto stared absently at the floor between his feet, wondering about the lime green medical gown. He glanced once more at a tray of medical instruments hidden beneath a white cloth, both wanting to know and not wanting to know what they were. He was not even sure why he was still here. Oh well, at least he had gotten this far, the last time he was in the hospital Naruto had not even been allowed past the emergency room doors. 

Eyeing the clock with mounting impatience Naruto finally decided that he was not going to wait around for some damn doctor and hopped off the table. Grumbling the blond walked to the cabinet where the nurse had put his clothes, only to discover that it was locked. "Damn it!" Naruto shouted, grabbing the handle and yanking hard, trying desperately to open the doors.

"Hello Uzumaki-san, I'm..." A new voice started only to trail off as the door to the room clicked open. "What are you doing?"

"Ohh, hehehe..." Naruto managed turning slowly to stare at the slightly grayed haired man dressed in a white doctor's coat. "Ummm, I'm trying to get my clothes?"

"Ah, well please have a seat." The doctor said and Naruto quickly retreated to the medical examination bed, trying to put the man at ease. He was not stupid; he could remember the last doctor's visit from when he was five.

"Now then, Uzumaki-san I am Doctor Kiyoshi." The man said, offering a brief smile.

"Err...hi?"

"Hmm?" Kiyoshi blinked, staring at him closely. "Strange, why would the Hokage ask me..."

"Huh?"

Waving a hand the doctor brushed him off, moving over to the counter, working a minor summoning before with a 'poof' a folder appeared. Frowning he picked up the thin object, checked the name on the cover then flipped it open reading the single page contained within.

"Uzumaki-san...when was the last time you received a checkup?"

"Uh, I've never had one." Naruto answered, his tone betraying his confusion.

"Well, we do have one entry for you...according to your file you came in several years ago complaining about a scraped cheek to the on duty doctor Kibira-san." Kiyoshi turned, glancing at Naruto as if seeking confirmation.

"Like hell!" Naruto said forcefully, indignation in his voice. "I was pelted with rocks and that bastard doctor chased me out."

"He what?" Kiyoshi responded, eyes darkening.

"Chased me out!" Naruto shouted.

"I see." Kiyosho muttered, making a note in the file. "To bad for him he's up for promotion this week." Done he pulled a rolling chair up and sat down. "Now then, I guess I'll do a complete physical examination."

"Uh, what exactly is a complete physical?"

"Huh, oh." Kiyoshi said, looking up from his scribbling in the folder. "Just normal stuff like checking your reflexes, tolerance to certain allergens and medicines, susceptibility to healing jutsu's, blood test's and well...a DRE."

"A...what?"

"A DRE, a digital rectal exam...it's to check you're prostrate." Kiyoshi smiled reassuringly. "I assure you its quite normal for ninja returning from missions, so nothing to get upset over."

"...rectal?" Naruto muttered eyes wide and then suddenly he darted off the table and grabbed the locked door, trying to yank it open. Behind him, he heard the snap of a plastic glove and froze.

"I suppose if you're going to act like that I better do the DRE first..."

"NOooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeep!"

* * *

Ino sighed rubbing her temples, staring blankly at the empty classroom. Three days of waiting around was getting boring, every morning her team -I.e. Shino- would gather in this classroom and await their Jonin-sensei Hayate to hear how their wounded comrade Yamabe Anzai was doing. 

It was funny, but until Anzai had been wounded Ino couldn't stand the boy. She had even commented to a friend once that it would have been no skin off her nose if the boy died. Anzai was fine as long as you were not around him for more than a few minutes. If you actually knew him, he could make Naruto that foul-mouthed, ill-mannered runt who had too much energy and NEVER shut up from the academy, look like Sasuke.

So it was really strange that ever since Anazi had gotten hurt -it wasn't even clear how- she had felt guilty for ever thinking that.

Kami.

Shino had been the one to suggest waiting in the classroom, he was bothered by how cold the hospital was and the way Ino kept fussing. Shino was not big on fussing or on being powerless to help a team mate which Ino had learned over the course of the time they spent together on the same team.

Didn't mean she liked him, Shino was an Ok guy but...he let _bugs_ live inside him...that was definitely not a pleasant thought. Still he was good, he actually handled most of the missions that involved planning. If only he wouldn't talk to the bugs...Ugh! Why couldn't she have Sasuke on her team?

Sasuke was handsome, brave, heralded as a genius...plus he belonged to a famous Clan! Oooh, you just know that whoever could win his heart would have undying loyalty from him. Shaking her head and adjusting her ponytail out of habit, Ino promised that for the chance to win the boy's heart she would have gladly even taken on Anazai as her other teammate.

Why did that big forehead, pink haired bimbo, Sakura get her Sasuke? How was that even fair? Sighing Ino forced herself to stop thinking about the two, which was a monumental feat, and accepted her fate for now.

She'd still win Sasuke, it would just take a tad more effort.

Lost in her day dream she completely failed to register the sound of the door opening or the coughing of her sensei until he was inside and Shino greeted the man. "Hayate-sensei, what Anzai's condition?"

"Ummm...Don't worry, he's fine." The sword toting Jonin said, before covering his mouth to cough. Eyes drooping a bit more he stared at the two before sighing. "I should probably tell you what happened exactly."

"Yea, that'd be nice." Ino deadpanned staring at the chronically sick man. "We've been waiting three days for that."

"Umm...I was sparring Anzai and he tried a jutsu he wasn't ready for." Hayate said, coughing once more. "Umm...he's also decide to quit as a ninja. He says that he was never warned of the danger in being a ninja."

"That's bullshit!" Ino shouted, her guilt suddenly gone. "That moron hurts himself and then claims he was never warned about being a ninja?! Kami, he went through the academy with us! Even _**that**_ Naruto understood how dangerous it was!"

"Ummm...good point." Hayate conceded edging back slightly.

"It is his decision." Shino said calmly, looking in Ino's direction before he shifted his gaze to Hayate. "What of our team? We will be one man short."

Hayate coughed then nodded. "I've taken care of that. Umm...it won't be permanent, but I've arranged for a fill-in for Anzai. He'll meet us later today at our usual training area."

Ino blinked then scowled in thought, who was their new team mate? Well, it was obviously male and a temporary situation...It couldn't be, she prayed that she was right though. Oh sweet kami let it be _him_!

She'd show that pink-haired bimbo now!

"Umm...that's it. Meet up at the regular training area at eight." Coughing Hayate finished.

Ino crossed her fingers, prayed that it would be Sasuke and wondered what to wear.

* * *

"Hey, Konohamaru what'd you think of Iruka-sensei's lesson today?" Udon asked, sniffling as he was prone to do. 

Konohamaru shrugged, kicking idly at a pebble. He really didn't know why he was hanging out with Udon or Mogei, other than the fact that they had needed him to stop some of the other students from making fun of them. They were sort of friends, but indirectly they were using him because of his grandfather.

Like everyone else, but they were nice enough and they made it a point of never mentioning his famous realtive.

"I thought it was wonderful." Mogei piped up, glancing at Konohamaru in _that_ way. It took all of his willpower to keep from running away, the girl was downright scary when she looked at him like that. As if he was a piece of steak and she was just _dying_ to eat him or something.

"Uhmm...well I thought so too." Udon said quickly, making it painfully obvious to Konohamaru that Udon liked Mogei. The girl turned, a smile on her face talking with the other boy distracted for the moment. Konohamaru took this as his chance to fall back and allow them to pull away from him.

It wasn't so much because of the conversation, it wasn't because he was tired of them, but ever since Ebisu had stopped tutoring him -something about professional courtesy- Konohamaru had begun to get antsy. He wanted real training, not what that guy at the acadmey was teaching. That was why he let them continue on without him, because he had realized what had been bothering him and how much he had no way of getting it.

There wasn't a single ninja in this whole village that would train him now, he was sure of that. Even Asuma wouldn't train him! Glancing at a scroll shop he eyed a display that proclaimed a scroll to self-teach kinjutsu. What if he knew one of those? He could beat his grandfather then for sure...but then he noticed the age and rank notice, meaning he had no chance of getting that scroll. "Ugh, I hate being a kid don't you Mogei?"

Konohamaru paused, realizing that he was alone and looked around. Oh yea, he had let them go on without him...damn...oh well, this meant at the very lest he could go bug someone to show him something. Maybe he would look for that 'Naruto' his grandfather had told Asuma about once. Well it would give him something to do at least, but other than knowing the boy wore orange and was only a few years older than him Konohamaru didn't hold out much hope of actually finding the blond.

"Hey! Naruto get back here!" Someone suddenly shouted, from a stall down the street and Konohamaru turned just as an orange figure darted out of the shop.

"Hehehe! Put it on my tab old man!"

Acting on instinct Konohamaru darted in the boy's way, forcing the blond to skid to a halt and stare at him in confusion and annoyance. "Oi! Are you blind?!"

"Of course not!" Konohamaru shouted back, lifting his head to stare at the blond for a moment. "I want you to train me!"

"Huh?!" Naruto blinked, scratching the back of his head.

"Train me!" Konohamaru said, daring the boy to refuse.

"Hn?" Naruto blinked as if he wasn't sure what to make of him. "I'm not going to train you."

"Train -" Konohamaru started to shout before he was cut off by the blonds fist smashing into the top of his head.

"Stupid brat!"

"Train me or I'll tell-" Konohamaru stopped then glared up at the boy, rubbing at his head. If he used his grandfathers name then he would be using his family and would get no resepct, but he would still get trained.

"Tell who ya runt?"

"My Grandpa, the Hokage." Konohamaru muttered, looking as disgusted as he felt for having to use that ploy.

"So your related to that ol' billy goat man?" Naruto said blinking before turning to walk away. "Well I'm still not training you."

Konohamaru blinked, taken back by that boys refusal to train him and the way he had refered to his grandpa. Nobody had ever done that, or talked that way about the Hokage before. Suddenly Konohamaru's childish desire to try and provke this boy into training him became a fanatics desire. ""I'm not just going to stop asking!"

"I ain't gonna train ya," Naruto called back over his shoulder without even slowing down.

Konohamaru growled and then followed after him, shouting for the boy to train him.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was bored out of her mind. Her parents, in their infinite wisdom -that she still couldn't understand- had come to the brilliant decision that since Ino had nothing to do for the day that she could watch the flower shop for the morning. Ino was not a morning person and such a suggestion was tantamount to telling her she would be forced onto a team with Naruto. 

No way in bloody hell that could have happened!

She actually couldn't decide which would be worse, having Naruto as a teammate or having to put up with Sakura -the big foreheaded bimbo- rubbing the fact that her team was already doing C-ranked missions. OOOOh! Ino wanted to-to...she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but violence was indeed involved in some way.

All it would probably take is for Sakura to stroll into Ino's flower shop and say 'Oh, still no _real_ missions Ino-pig? That's ok...' and Ino would snap.

Grumbling she propped her chin on her hand and glared daggers at the door to her shop. She knew one thing for sure, by the time they had the next team training session she was going to have a lot of pent up hostility. Not that she could really do much against Shino or Hayate.

Shino was always indifferent about that. Not that had he said he much to her, Shino while he did care for his team was not a talkative person. Unless bugs were involved...then you couldn't shut him up. On average however, he hardly said more than a sentence and rarely used words over two syllables. At least he had fashion sense, that gray high-collared jacket worked for him.

Hayate was just badass. Ino had seen him use his sword once...she had never seen a blade move that fast. It was almost enough to make her want to learn Kenjutsu. A jingle later she was snapped out of her thoughts and found herself staring at a pink-haired, green eyed girl.

Sakura looked entirely too smug for Ino's tastes, still Ino had a job to do. "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers."

"Hey Ino-pig."

Ino felt her eye start twitching. "Hello Big-forehead girl." Sakura's own eye started twitching and Ino took a vindictive pleasure in that. "Are you here to admit that Sasuke-kun is mine?"

"As if." Sakura sniffed, crossing her arms. "My mom has an order."

Ino bit off her response and quickly shuffled through the small stack of orders, before selecting the order in question. Ino studied it for a moment then nodded moving around the counter to start gathering the required flowers. Sakura just nodded, thankfully being as quiet as possible while Ino worked.

That was one thing that Ino gave her former friend Sakura credit for, Sakura appreciated the fine art of flower arrangement almost as much as Ino did. Sadly the instant Ino finished and the business was taken care of, they were both back to verbally fighting.

It only ended when Sakura left, tossing one last insult over her shoulder and Ino was left enraged enough to throw a vase at the door. Damned pink-haired Sasuke stealer! Staring at the shattered pieces of the vase Ino seethed then grabbed a broom, knuckles white as she stomped around the counter.

Could this day get any worse?

* * *

"Ok, lets see what you got." Naruto said, holding a thumb up as if signaling good luck. 

Konohamaru held a fist in front him, his voice louder than even Naruto's. "You'll see what I have right now!" That shouted he went charging across the clearing at full steam, plotting to nail the boy with a right cross and then his world exploded into a universe of pain.

Seconds later he landed on the ground heavily, something foul filling his mouth. Sitting up he spat, staring in wide-eyed horror at the red glob that escaped him. He was bleeding?! Panicking he stared at the boy who was looking equally surprised, which infuriated Konohamaru who jumped to his feet. "What the hell are you doing!? Trying to kill me?"

Naruto blinked then shrugged. "Don't charge in head on...or I will kill you."

Konohamaru blinked then raised his hands in an X-shape. "ARE YOU CRAZY! I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!"

"Oi, but I agreed to train you...so you should do what I say right?"

"Can't you teach me a jutsu or something?" Konohamaru asked, glaring at the blond intently.

"Er...no?" Naruto shrugged, scratching the side of his head. "You know, now that I think about, why don't you just ask your grandpa for some help?"

"Who cares about my grandfather!" Konohamaru shouted angrily, bristling. "I don't need him or his help!"

"Well, uh, I think you do." Naruto shrugged.

Something inside Konohamaru demanded he attack, demanded that he make Naruto see him! Ebisu, Iruka, Asuma, they had all taught him -mostly because of his grandfather- and all of those lessons came into play at this moment. What shurikan he had were suddenly whistling through the air, thrown only as a child could, and Konohamaru was travelling in their wake, prapring to attack with a jumping cross.

That was when he found a new teacher.

The blond dodged the first shuirkan Konohamaru had thrown, bent at the waist to avoid two more, then came around and drove a punch into his stomach. Gasping in pain and the lack of air, Konohamaru hung there for a split second and then his arm was wrenched around and he smashed into the ground, seconds later his wrist felt as if it was about to snap and a cold metal blade came into contact with his throat.

Konohamaru through is pain and tears, felt his bladder let go as he stared into those eyes, convienced of how close death was. Naruto remained stationary for several more minutes and then slowly his face paled and he stood shakily backing away, as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.

Konohamaru remained where he was at, tears of pain and urine his trademark that he was alive.

"I..." Naruto started to say beofre pausing, the horrified look on his face shifting to a mask of of confidence. "You'll have to get hurt and you'll have to bleed, you can't rely on your grandpa or anyone else...that's the only way to get stronger. Always remember that Konohamaru...and never give up."

That said the blond turned and took off, getting as far from him as possible in the minute's it took Konohamaru to recover.

It was several more before he could get to his feet and when he did, Konohamaru just stood there. He stared after the blond, taking his words to heart while trying to replay how exactly that last encounter had happened. Then, heedless of his wet clothes or the pain he was still feeling he tried to imitate what his new sensei had done to him as best he could.

* * *

Naruto darted and weaved through the crowd, eyeing the sun, dejected but hiding it. Seeing the street getting even more crowded he cursed and using his training preformed a rebounding leap onto the roof tops to continue his run before dropping back to the ground. Seconds later he came bursting out of the bushes into the familiar training grounds, skidding to a halt as he spotted Anko on top one of the posts. 

Her gaze shifted from the trees to him and then she looked away, her voice odd. "...You're actually here on time."

"Err...that's a good thing right?" Naruto said slowly, moving closer, his instincts on edge. At any moment he fully expected a surprise attack. Seeing none in the immediate future the blond slowly sat on the ground, staring up at his sensei who continued to ignore him for the moment.

Several minutes of silence passed and then Anko spoke.

"How do you feel now, about that ninja you killed?" Suddenly her eyes snapped to his face, gaze unreadable.

"I'm not sure...sometimes it's like, I still can't accept it. Most of the time I don't think about him and when I do I realize-" Naruto stopped looking down, the realization that he'd had while fighting the kid from earlier flashing through his mind. "I realize I'll always have to kill, that it's a part of who I am now...even if I don't want to..."

Anko nodded, then took a sip from a bottle of sake that Naruto hadn't noticed until now. The woman in question however acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "...How close was it?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, feeling uneasy. Could she know just how close he had come to killing that kid earlier? No that was impossible.

Anko shook her head, waving a hand as if dismissing her question while taking another gulp of sake. "Forget it."

"Are you drunk?" Naruto asked, squinting up at her.

"No," Anko paused. "Not yet at least." She gave him a pleasant smile, which sent a chill down his back. "By the way I've got an order for you from the Hokage."

"Order?"

"Hn. You need to be in one piece for team training at eight in training area nine." Anko explained her voice almost growling. "A team's lost a member and you've been assigned as a part-time fill in."

"What?! I thought you were-" Naruto started to protest until Anko cut him off.

"Save your breath. I've already argued with the Hokage...from what I gather you'll have two teams and we'll just rotate you." Anko explained scowling before looking at her sake bottle and muttering "I still say this is that bitch Kurenai's doing."

"I..."

"Naruto...am I a bad person?" Anko suddenly asked her voice sounding odd once more.

Naruto sat there a moment, scowling then shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well you're mean, you like trying to kill me..." Nodding he stared at her defiantly. "...I don't think your bad, just psycho."

Anko suddenly stared at him intently. "I want to explain something to you before...I've done things that people in this village hate me for. Things they **should** hate me for."

"Like what?" Naruto asked, blinking in confusion. He honestly couldn't think of anything she could have done to make everyone hate her. Then again, as Naruto knew from experince this village really didn't need much to hate someone.

"I killed my own teammates once." Anko suddenly admited.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted jumping to his feet to stare at her in horror. She had..."That's -"

"Do you know what it's like to love someone so intensely that you'd do anything for them? To care so deeply that you'd follow _any_ order?" Anko asked coldly, cutting him off.

"N-no..." Naruto felt the chill on his spine increasing.

"I'm not surprised." Anko said, her eyes flickering away from him for a moment before looking back at him. "Naruto, I did a lot of things for Oro-sensei, things that I shouldn't I have. I knew they were wrong, I knew that he was doing things he shouldn't...but I didn't tell for a long time...I let him do things...that I shouldn't have..."

Naruto just stared in silence wondering what she was talking about, about why he suddenly felt betrayed, why he wanted to shout and rave. Still however, he didn't feel the hate that the villagers had to feel for her, but then that was probably due to him being unable to make others suffer. Still, he didn't understand...

"The villagers don't care that he lied to me, that he made me love him, that he fooled a gullible teenager..." Anko said darkly staring at him. "Only that I helped him and that I'm still here and that he's not. They hate me because they don't understand what its like to be an outcast, how lonely that is and how willing you are to let yourself be fooled by the one that acknowledges you."

Naruto stared at her, his thoughts suddenly racing a million different directions. At first he wanted to rant and rave and shout that it didn't matter her reasons, she should have known better than believe that. Yet he was reminded of Mizuki and of how willing he had been to believe the man, of how lonely being an outcast was, of how much he wanted to prove himself to anyone that would acknowledge him.

"That's why that bitch Kurenai got the Hokage to take you away, she thinks I'm going to become like my teacher..." Anko said hatefully. "I'm nothing like him! NOTHING!"

"A-anko..."

The dark haired Jonin however fixed him with an angry glare. "What? Do you hate me too, just like all those other narrow-minded bigots? I'm not surprised, how the hell could you underst-"

"Are you sorry? About what you did?" Naruto said, cutting her triade off.

Anko froze, her gaze intense and Naruto seriously began to wonder if she might not have decided to kill him. Then he saw they way her face changed, how her eyes that had shown anger and hate changed into...something else...

"Why do you think I'm still here?" Anko finally said, her voice edged with remorse. "I try to show them...I try to make it up. They won't forgive me, nobody not even the Hokage...he just see's me as an experienced ninja and Konoha needs as many as it can get..."

"I..."

"Why won't they forgive me?" Anko asked, her voice almost growing too soft to be heard. "Why? I'm sorry...I don't understand why they won't forgive me..."

Naruto stared at her intently, watching as her head lowered and her voice grew softer. Obviously she was drunker than she had led him to believe, but that didn't change what she was saying. He could feel his anger building toward the villagers, it was an anger born from them hurting someone that he had grown close to.

Anko was the first person after Iruka to really acknowledge him, the first person that seemed to care about him and the villagers were treating her like trash.

"I forgive you." Naruto suddenly said, his voice firm. "I mean, if your sorry then that's it. That's how it's suppose to work right? You make a mistake and you apologize, you try to make it up, at least that's what Iruka-sensei always told me."

Anko looked up at him, her face blank then a small smile appeared. "Maybe you're not useless after all runt..."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, only to frown as a thought occured to him. "Oi, who's my new team?"

"I don't know." Anko muttered, waving a hand dismissively. "Don't really care, but until then you better practice those kunai tricks I showed you on the way back from Kusa..."

"Right." Naruto said, smiling faintly.

Anko shook her head and hopped off the post, wobbling slightly when she landed. "Meanwhile, I'm going to go torment a cyclops..." Anko grinned, waving a familar book. "Have fun!" Anko chirpped as she walked past him and then stopped, turning to glance at him. "Damn it, why couldn't you be a few years older...I could use a nice guy like you..." Then laughing at her self Anko disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto stared after her blankly, then shook his head turning toward the post while slipping a kunai out of his holster. Anko really didn't make any sense when she was drunk, she was already using him...what did a few years matter?

* * *

Ino would have smiled, really she would have; after all being freed from working in a family flower shop was grounds for smiling. Sadly, in Ino's opinion she had been freed only to suffer an even worse fate; meeting her new team mate. She was still praying it was Sasuke, actually Ino would gladly take anyone as her team mate as long as it wasn't her ex-bestfriend. 

Why did Anzai have to even quit? He should have learned from his damn mistake and not been so reckless next time...not that Ino could really say anything. Compared to almost everyone else in her year she was completely pathetic, her one skill was the family jutsu. It was not designed for combat nor was Ino very good at using it. She had tried to pick up a jutsu from Hayate but the man said he didn't know any outside of the basics that didn't involve a sword.

She toyed once more with the concept of taking up kenjutsu, it would give her something...but she'd have a small amount of surprise walking around with a sword strapped to her back. Maybe if the sword was smaller and less obvious...Ino mused for a moment then put those thoughts to the side for another time.

She was running late and broke into a light jog, working her way through the streets of the market before taking a left and entering the forest. Taking the almost hidden path she bent saplings out of her way slipping through the bushes, cursing Hayate for picking this type of location for training. Didn't that man understand this ruined clothes?

Ino was going to have to buy a new outfit after this, not that she would really complain...

Stepping into the clearing she found the three training logs, with Hayate casually standing beside one with Shino seated at the base of another, finger extended and speaking with a bug. Good, she wasn't late that would have been embarrassing to say the least. Imagine what Sasuke would have thought had he been here and she'd been late.

That was when a sound reminiscent of a stampede reverberated through the still forest air, followed shortly by Ino tumbling to the ground tangled in an orange, blue and blond blur who was yelling that he wasn't late, that he had been training and all sorts of other crazy things.

Attempting to untangle herself from the boy she registered that it was Naruto and unfortunately while he was shouting in Ino's ear he was attempting to get back to his feet complicating her own efforts. To make matters even worse, at some point in their attempt to get up and seperate his hands ended up places they had no business being as did her own.

Convienced that both had been his plan she suddenly bolted upright, shrugging him off and began beating him black and blue while shouting 'pervert' at the top of her lungs. When she finally finished, Ino dusted her hands off, huffed and turned on her heel.

"Ummm...Right." Hayate said, fatigue obvious in his voice. "I guess I don't have to introduce our newest teammate."

Ino froze, her eyes widening in disbelief at what Hayate had just said registered with her. Had she committed some horrible sin in a past life? Or desecrated a shrine without knowing? Please let this all be one horrible sick joke!

There was a moment of silence and then several things happened at once.

Ino and Naruto pointed at each other and started shouting at the same time.

"WHY DO I HAVE THIS ANNOYING BITCH ON MY TEAM!"

"WHY DO I HAVE THIS ANNOYING PRICK ON MY TEAM!"

This was followed by both freezing and turning to glare at each other.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING ANNOYING?!" They shouted at the same time once more. This led to both allowing an eye to twitch before they lunged at each other. Twenty seconds later, a deeply distrubed Hayate and Shino was looking at two grumbling and battered blond ninja.

Ino glared at Hayate and then at Naruto and then back at him. How could things have degenerated into this? Of course! Sakura had to have a hand in this or something! Hell, until this moment she had thought Naruto was a villager now...Ino stopped scowling, now that she thought about it, Naruto being here didn't make any sense.

Turning she started to ask her sensei about that, only to have the Jonin answer her unasked question. "Uzumaki-san has been apprenticing to Anko-sempai and has already completed a B-rank mission."

"He...what?" Ino managed glancing at the boy once more in disbelief. Naruto in response stuck his tongue out at her and then started laughing. Naruto had done a B-rank mission? Naruto? That Naruto?! Impossible! Not even Sasuke-kun had done one of those yet!

"Umm, Ino if you can stop giving our new teammate that look I'll explain our upcoming mission." Hayate said, then completely uneffected by her scowl, started explaining the mission he had been hinting at for the last week or so. "The mission is B-ranked, at the customer villages request-"

"Why would they wish to increase the rating?" Shino asked and Ino was pleased to see the idiot in orange jolt in surprise. Not that she could blame Naruto, Shino rarely spoke and he was so quiet in the first place it was hard to remember he was even there.

"Umm, As I said the village inisited that its rank be raised. Most likely the headman and elders are just anxious to have it completed. So really, this will be a C-rank mission with B-ranked pay." Hayate shrugged before coughing into his hand. "As for the mission itself, it is very straight forward and rather simple for a C-ranked mission."

"Oi, what exactly is the mission? More Enemy ninja or do we have to kill monsters?" Naruto asked, looking excited.

"Umm, actually its much more mundane." Hayate replied blandly. "There has been a rash of unexplained kidnappings in a remote area of Fire Country, so our mission is to first find and stop those responsible and then second rescue all of those kidnapped that we can."

"Shouldn't we let someone else handle it then?" Ino asked, not liking the sound of this. She glanced at Shino, seeking some sort of support but the boy merely raised an eyebrow.

Hayate on the other hand just coughed and continued as if none of them had said anything. "We leave tomorrow morning at ten. We are travelling to the village of Nigoriki, which is geographically isolated by ravines and mountains."

"But...why us?" Ino almost demanded. "I mean...don't you think this is a bit more than we can handle?"

Hayate blinked looking at her. "Ummm...you shouldn't have any problems. These are most likely only bandits, besides Kurenai-san's team has already completed a mission of this level. It was _you_ Ino-san that demanded a C-ranked mission, so please kindly keep that in mind."

"B-but..." Ino stammered, uneasy with how he shot that at her. She had really only demanded it because of Sakura, Ino had no delusions that she could really preform such a mission. Now however it seemed that she had no choice. Unless she could think of something, which was when she remembered the obvious. "We've never worked as a team with Naruto!"

"Idiot!" Naruto interjected and Ino rounded on the boy ready to lash into him, unprepared for when he lashed into her. "The best team work develops in battle! Besides, you can't always rely on it, like Anko says the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyubi with anyone's help."

"..." Ino fell silent staring at the boy then snorting glared at her passive sensei and the ever silent Shino before storming off. Stupid, idiotic...the only thing that could sum up her thoughts and feelings on the matter was one word.

"Men!"

* * *

Staring at the boy across from him, Hayate couldn't help but feel put off. He had never met a ninja that wore orange, nor had such bright yellow hair. Now his personality, it reminded him _strongly_ of a former superior within ANBU named Anko. He was loud, obnxious and just a tad cocky. 

Yet Hayate also had a feeling that despite all of that, he was a capable ninja like his sensei. Which was why he wanted to see Naruto's skill alone, because if he _was_ really like Anko then once the fight started he would lose track of everybody around him.

"Oi, so you really want me to come at ya' with everything?" Naruto asked cautiously, no almost as if he was afraid.

"Yeah, something like that." Hayate coughed, slipping into a casual stance. "Just come at me however you go after Anko-sempai." Seconds later he realized what he was facing, it was a mere split second, but in that moment Hayate saw a gaze remincsent of Anko. It was enought hat Hayate began plotting the various angles of attack that Naruto would be following, when much to his disbelief Naruto charged straight at him.

Talk about an idiot.

The Jonin didn't even bother to pay attention to how Naruto was moving, it was obvious the boy hadn't learned anything from Anko. So he casually reached out for a simple left-jab aimed at the boys chin, which was when he realized his mistake.

One minute Naruto had been a sitting duck, the next he was inside Hayate's defenses. It was literally only due to his faster reaction time that he managed to move out of range while staring warily at the frusrated Genin. How could he have been so stupid? Of course if Naruto had been trained by Anko he would be using the Hebi Style.

So distracted with cursing his stupidity, Hayate just barely had time to register the roundhouse kick that was sailing at his stomach. Still, he was a Jonin and former ANBU, so he managed to avoid the kick only to recieve a hook punch to his kidney. Wincing the man lashed out with a hammerfist to the boys jaw, sending the boy tumbling away from him.

Sadly Naruto recovered quickly and with a smirk that would do Anko proud came charging back in, kunai coming into play as projectiles. Hayate dodged them expertly, almost frightened to see that he _even_ threw like Anko, but was brought up short when he realized that Naurto had used those weapons as a distraction. Because now the blond was within range once more and was moving for a roundkick, which changed into a sidekick when Hayate shifted to avoid the blow.

Realizing his only recourse would be to put some distance between them Hayate leaped backward, a trickle of sweat make its way down the side of his face. Damn, was it him or was the boy getting faster? He was given further reason to sweat when Naruto quickly preformed an all to familiar handseal and shouted his move. "Kage Bunshin!"

Oh that wasn't good. Landing Hayate quickly sought the hilt of his sword, amazed that Anko would teach a genin _that_ move. His amazement turned into almost horror at what happened next, apparently the four clones felt this was not enough bodies and moved to create even more. That was not the verison of Kage Bunshin that all Jonin used, that was...Hayate felt his fingers slacken slightly as he realized what he was facing.

Normal Kage Bunshin's could not make copies, the only version that could was the one that Kakashi-sempai used which was a deviation that the Yondaime had created. So for Naruto to be able to preform that version, this was a whole different game.

"Get him!"

Hayate got a hold of himself, pulling his sword as the small mob charged at him. Thank the kami he had the good sense to fight the boy in private, this was quickly gettting out of hand. Seconds later he was deflecting kunai, blocking punches and kicks, all the while trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Then suddenly the fighting slacked off and he froze, eyes darting to five 'Narutos' that were moving into position even as the others backed off.

It didn't take a genius to realize what was about to happen and with a quick Shunshin no Jutsu he escpaed the coming blast at the last second. Perching on an overhead branch, he panted studying the various surviving clones intently and almost shocked at the brutality that jutsu had behind it. That move had nothing but an intent to kill behind it, he knew of very few ninja that would go for that type of attack and none were genin.

Naruto was bearing his fangs...was this how he sparred Anko? Hayate frowned, then coughed watching as Naruto gathered the remaining clones and seemed to hold a discussion with them. This was not a good sign, a Genin with a forbidden level Kage Bunshin, the style of one of the most ruthless ninja ever and a viciousness unheard of in a Genin.

Geez, how much more could this boy do? Apparently alot as all the clones suddenly turned and launched a hail of kunai at him. Ok it was time to stop playing around, he needed to put this boy on the defensive. Narrowing his eyes Hayate gathered his chakra, channelled it into his sword and then slashed it out. "Dance of the Midnight Tornado!"

There was a moment of nothing and then the chakra in the sword was sent flashing into the air, creating a small tornado which defelected the kunai back toward the orange ninja. Pushing off the tree with a burst of chakra, he followed in their wake pleased to see he had caught them off guard. Landing the Jonin, making sure to use the dull side of his blade, lashed out to being dispelling the various clones.

"Bastard!" The remaining Naruto's shouted before they all came charging as one.

That made things easier and before long he was standing completely alone in the clearing, which made him pause. Naruto was missing completely, well not really Hayate could vaguely feel his presence. That was highly unusual in all honesty, even if Naruto was hiding in the shrubs or trees Hayate should have a clearier feeling than this.

It wasn't until he felt the air behind him ripple from a kunai that he figured out the problem. Reacting quickly he twisted around, just barely dodging the attack and then he preformed several more near impossible evasions and swore. What was Anko thinking teaching _that_ jutsu to a Genin?

Ok, Hayate was offically worried. Everything about Naruto was begining to scream danger, which meant he had to end this now! For all he knew Naruto could have created more damn clones, had them use the Meisaigakure and were preparing to slaughter him with kunai.

Twirling his blade he pointed the tip down, channeling chakra into the sword once more. Seconds later he drove the blade into the ground, allowing the chakra to burst outwards, ripping the ground to pieces as it spread. "Dance of the Moon Dragon Crash!"

He was rewarded with more than ten Naruto's appearing out of thin air before disappearing in puffs of smoke to leave only a dazed and confused blond. Without hesitating he pulled his sword free and shifted his weight already preparing for his next attack, even as Naruto recovered and began an unfamiliar jutsu. Which meant this next moment was crucial.

"Dance of the Midnight Tornado!"

"Huh?!" Naruto shouted in mid-seal, eyes wide before he was knocked over and battered along the ground as Hayate's attack slammed into him.

Hayate didn't even wait for the blond to come to a complete stop as he channelled the rest of his charka into his legs of a powerful jump into the air. His sword arched overhead and came to a crashing stop as he landed in a kneeling postion over the blond, the dull edge of his sword pressing painfully against Naruto's shoulder.

The boy remained perfectly still, only moving when Hayate started coughing and returned his sword to its sheath. Seeing the dark look on the boys face he coughed and sought something to say and thus potientally keep this child from seeking him out for retrubtion. "That was a very impressive match."

Naruto stared at him through squinted eyes for several moments before putting his hands behind his head. "Hehehe! I'll be Hokage no doubt!"

Hayate blinked then coughed once more, after that fight he had no problem seeing the boy getting strong enough for that job. "Ummm...I'll see you tomorrow at ten."

"Right!" Naruto shouted jumping to his feet nodding as he started for the village. "First I'll have some ramen then I'll train, then I'll..."

Hayate watched and listened until the boy was long gone. Looking around at the training area he frowned then glanced in the direction that Naruto had just went. That fight, nobody would have expected that from a genin without any family. Naruto used his jutsu frighteningly well, he didn't rely on them which was a flaw a lot of ninja had, and most importantly Naruto thought ahead at times.

After all, how else could he have known to use the Meisaigakure when he had? The blond had thought ahead, knowing that Hayate would either dodge or reflect the attack and he had came up with the right tactic for that situation. That was something most people would expect from a Hyuuga or Uchiha, not from a clanless ninja.

"Well, we have tactics covered now." Hayate said before coughing. "Now if he could just keep from pissing of Ino they'll be fine."


	9. Chapter 8: Like, Naruto you are such

**Naruto:  
**Altered History  
Chapter 8:  
-_ "Like, Naruto you are such an idi-"  
__"Oi, Ino words are coming out of your mouth...this is never a good thing."_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Pacing near the wall beside the North gate leading out of Konoha, Ino kept glanced at her watch every five minutes and snorting. Leave it to Naruto to totally mess everything up, they should have left an hour ago. Grumbling Ino glared at her sensei in utter annoyance, yet the chronically sick J ōnin seemed completely impervious to her glare. 

He was even content to remain crouching in the shade of the gates, listening to Shino talk with the bug crawling along his finger. The silence continued onward for another half-hour before Ino's temper finally snapped and she stomped her foot on the ground, her teeth grinding. "That baka! If we have to wait one more minute...What were you thinking taking such an idiot on our team?!"

At this Hayate coughed, looking up at her curiously. When Ino cocked her hip and crossed her arms, an obvious sign of her dangerous displeasure, Hayate started talking. "Ummm...Each team is designed to be balanced."

"We're balanced by having one of the biggest morons in Konoha on our team?" Ino demanded curtly, eyes narrowing. "'Cha, I don't see it."

"Ummm... each team is designed so that there there is one ninja for gathering information, one for creating a strategy using that information and one that can create the tactics needed to make the strategy succeed. Ino, you're perfect for gathering information while Shino is perfect for strategy and Naruto is perfect for tactics."

"So that is why the teams were designed like they were." Shino said after a moment before nodding.

"It makes sense, that design would allow each team to be given almost any type of mission and have an almost assured chance of completing it successfully."

"But still, why'd we have to get Naruto? Why couldn't you get Sasuke and let Sakura have Naruto?" Ino grumbled looking away.

"Ummm...that would have messed up the teams. Sasuke's team has begun handling C-ranked missions, messing with it would not be in anyones best interest." Hayate said, covering his mouth while coughing yet again.

"Well of course they are, they have the number one Genin." Ino protested darkly. "We're, like, getting another idiot that'll probably get himself killed instead of just injuring himself."

"Ummm...actually, we're getting the number one Genin." Hayate said and then seeing her dark look sighed. "Uchiha Sasuke was the Number One _Academy student_ , but Uzumaki Naruto is actually the Number One _Genin_. It's the teamwork that makes Team Seven the premier team."

"What are you talking about?" Shino inquired curiously.

"Ummm...well, how can I explain?" Hayate said, rubbing at his nose. "Sasuke-san and Team Seven have just begun preforming C-ranked missions, while Naruto has completed one B-ranked mission successfully and is about to perform another. So as it stands, Naruto is the top Genin."

"Naruto, the top Genin? As if." Ino said slowly, eyes wide.

"Well, another factor is skills. Both have been taught above Genin level, but Sasuke-san has been taught more conservative skills compared to Naruto."

"Oi! Sorry about being late, I was having some rame-" Naruto shouted, interrupting the conversation as he jogged toward them, shoving items in his pockets. Skidding to a halt he blinked, reali zing that they were all staring at him. "Uhhh...Do I have something on my face?"

"Umm...we should get going." Hayate said standing up once more. "Naruto you take the lead."

"Right!" Naruto said enthusiastically, facing toward the gates, finger raised. "LET'S GO!"

Ino just barely repressed her groan of frustration. She didn't care what Hayate said, there was no way she could believe that Naruto was better than Sasuke. The boy was a hyperactive monkey, his voice grating and could he not grasp that orange was not a good color?

Hell she hadn't spent more than a few minutes with the blond and Ino's eyes were already starting to burn from the color. Why did _she_ have to have the moron on her team? Reaching up Ino rubbed her temples, biting her tongue against the urge to shout at the boy as he led the way beyond the gates.

About twenty minutes later , Naruto started singing a nursery rhyme in a grating voice and Ino felt her eye starting to twitch.

* * *

Abarume Shino had not graduated as the best student, nor had he graduated with a clever nickname. Shino had, to the vast majority of the graduating class, been just another guy. This had been fine with Shino, he preferred the quiet, it was a preference that he had picked up from his exposure to both his father and his Kikaichu family. 

So needless to say, listening to Naruto sing put his hard gained stoicism to the test.

"High up is the castle wall, that brightly showed up who drawed the classes try? The moon is prising hi in the beths of night. To rise and fall is people's fate, the moon shines so bright. How I love the moon-"

Shino winced, Naruto sounded like a banshee or the screeching ghost of a torture victim. His voice even effected his Kikaichu who demanding the blonds immediate death. Shino didn't even want to think of how this was effecting Ino.

"Will you please shut up!" Ino shouted, shoving Shino aside as Naruto turned in surprise.

Apparently Ino had been driven crazy. Which was understandable after listening to the same screeching words for the last four or five hours.

"Oi, you have a problem with me singing?!"

"D'uh! First you can't sing and second those aren't even the right words!" Ino snapped back.

"Oi! Those are too the words!" Naruto shouted back.

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

"Are not!"

"They are too the right words! If you think you can sing it better then why don't you!" Naruto shouted, not backing down one iota from Ino.

"Are you really going to -" Shino started to ask, already sensing that was the case. When Ino shot him a glare he sighed allowing the two to continue their tirade.

Ino, apparently satisfied that Shino was silent snapped her attention back to Naruto, hands on her hips. "Cherry blossoms gracefully bloom o'er the fields that lie, High up is the castle wall, where have warriors gone? Where is the moonlight that brightly shone up high, Shone upon the warriors who drained the glasses dry?"

Naruto's mouth opened in surprise, which Shino felt like mirroring. Ino's voice had been soft and gently. It was almost like listening to a professional singer...

"Uhmm...can we please continue with the mission now?" Hayate said, coughing, startling all three. Naruto snapped his mouth shut and turned marching off ahead, but this time he was silent. Ino crossed her arms and allowed Shino to resume his spot directly behind the other boy.

Once Shino had gotten over his surprise at Ino's voice, he considered the fact that Naruto and Ino seemed to argue and fight almost every time they turned around. Usually Naruto would provoke Ino, but he could count at least one instance where Naruto had been provoked. Shino felt uneasy about that, they were were team after all and they had to work together.

Those two would never be able to do that, which made one fact obvious. Unless Shino made the effort to bridge the gap between the two, they would never be a team. He just didn't have an idea of how to do just that, Ino had never been a fan of teamwork but she had grudgingly worked with him. However, with Naruto in the formula now that would never happen.

They would probably go against anything he suggested if it was backed by the other.

Still, Shino knew he had to do something and that meant...private team training. No Hayate, no friends. Total isolation so that they could learn to get along, or too at least set aside personality conflicts. The most likely to agree with the least amount of resistance would probably be Ino.

That decision made he checked in briefly with his Kikaichu family that he had spread out around them. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on, a few wild animals but no people other than an old man gathering fruit. Turning his mind away from those he checked on his teammates, finding things in proper order.

"Oww!" Naruto suddenly shouted slapping at his neck.

Shino was jarred out of his thoughts, watching as the bug he had placed on Naruto darted off the blond and back into the safety of Shino's body. Shino spent a few minutes watching Naruto grumble then turned his attention back to the bug in question, Kumi-chan.

Kumi-chan was apologetic, explaining that Naruto's chakra had goaded her into biting. Shino scowled, asking other members of his family to see how they would react to Naruto's chakra. As a handful left he wondered what kind of chakra could be so powerful as to override his family's training.

Shino had his question answered minutes later when Naruto started slapping at his neck while his family returned to him. He waited patiently for the few he had sent out to settle and then gently prodded the oldest involved, Mako-chan. Her answer, that 'Part of Naruto's chakra urged us to gorge', only deepened Shino's confusion.

Shifting his attention back to Naruto Shino wondered at the impossibility of it. His family had been exposed to Hayate and Sasuke, both had large chakra capacities and yet they had never had this problem. What made Naruto's chakra any different? Why did they want to gorge when they never had before?

There was something odd about Naruto...

...something strange...

...Shino suddenly felt very uneasy.

* * *

Naruto was smiling, he was laughing, being a nuisance to his teammates but he didn't care. Because he was on a mission, so he was pretending while hiding the tight, hard knot in his stomach. It wasn't fear, it was more like dread, but it was there in a knot. A dread that he would have to do it again, spend another night of uneasy sleep dreaming about another ninja's death. 

A death he would cause, that he would have to cause. Like Anko had taught him in Kusa better them than him, he would hate it, but he would do it. It was hard, to create the part of his mind that he would need to survive the splattering of blood but Naruto thought he was halfway there. So he kept his game of pretend going, wondering if the others were able to take a life.

Well that and why the hell they had to do all this damn walking. Why couldn't the just be there already? He hated these long periods of nothing, it was so boring!

Oh well at least someone had bothered to acknowledge him as an experienced ninja. Soon he really would be Hokage and everybody would see his strength! The thought of him being Hokage was enough that he started chuckling to himself, imagining his future-self kicking Sasuke's ass.

Then Sakura would be fawning all over him and then and then...he scowled, blinking as he realized he had never really thought of what would come after that long dreamed of day. Oh well it didn't really matter, he'd figure that out when he got there. It was around this point that his thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling in hunger.

Putting a hand to it Naruto grumbled slightly, glancing at the sky startled that it was actually darkening. He hadn't realized just how long they had been walking. The upside would be that they would be stopping soon so they could eat. This was a good thing since he really didn't want to complain, Anko had done a lot to dissuade him of that. He felt a tremor run up his spine at the mere memory.

"Ummm, I think it's time we stop for the night." Hayate said, bringing the group to a halt.

"Finally," Ino muttered sitting down on an over turned log.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he slung his pack off to collapse at the base of a nearby tree, hunting for a cup of his instant ramen. Finding it he grinned happily and started noisily satisfying his stomachs grumbling. Ahh, was there anything better than ramen? Well, maybe a kiss from Sakura not that he would really know...

Debating the two options Naruto realized that he was being watched and snapped his attention up to find Ino glaring at him. What the hell? Naruto glared back, unintimidated. Snorting Ino looked away, watching Shino talk to his bugs and Hayate start a fire. Naruto muttered something and then went back to his meal, ignoring the apparently obvious fact that Ino didn't like him.

He didn't have a clue why and he didn't care. She was another damn Sasuke-fangirl and she was NOT Sakura, so she was beneath his contempt. Then his chopsticks of ramen paused halfway to his mouth, a sudden thought hitting him. What if he smelled really bad? Anko would have slapped him upside the head, if she didn't then he usually didn't care what he smelt like. Still, he didn't want to be the smelly guy.

Lifting his arm Naruto sniffed his armpit only to frown, obviously that wasn't it. That was when he felt her attention again, and looked up to catch her staring at him in confusion. "What the hell are you staring at?" Naruto snapped.

"You!" Ino shot back. "Kami your disgusting! You're like a stupid monkey."

"Hey, at least I'm not pining over some gay pretty boy!" Naruto shot back and then when she opened her mouth to say something he cut her off. "Save it!"

Ino's face reddened even more, then started to angrily pull things out of her pack muttering. Naruto made it a point to eat as horribly as possible ignoring her. Briefly he wondered if Anko would help him hide Ino's body if he killed her, then decided that she might point out that he would have to kill Shino and Hayate as well. Well there went that idea, he would have just ignore that annoying girl.

Well that and piss her off, so as far as Naruto was concerned anything that pissed her off was a good thing.

Finishing his ramen Naruto tossed it beside him and grabbed another cup, scowling in thought as he ate. What was Anko doing? She had seemed so...upset? Yea, upset...Anko had been upset last night about him and this team. Why couldn't he have just stayed with her?

Sure she was a psychotic bitch, trying to kill him every time he turned around, but she was alright. He paused, tilting his head in consideration. Yeah, Anko really wasn't that bad. She was fun and she enjoyed his pranks, approved of his brashness. He chose to ignore how she liked to try and gut him on a regular basis...

Then he realized who he was thinking such things about and shivered in fear, his appetite almost ruined. Shaking it off he focused on his meal and finished it quickly. Setting it aside he settled back and made the quick decision that he was far too tired for much of anything else and thus made advantage of one of Anko's many lessons. Instant sleep, even if it took an act of the kami to wake him back up again.

This act of the kami came several hours later, in the form of his bladder. Naruto of course jerked awake, stumbling into the forest, sighing in relief while his eyes refused to focus. Finished and mumbling to himself he returned to camp, scratching at his stomach as he blew past the fire and into a tent that he swore was his.

Naruto quickly shed his orange jacket and shoes, then after a moments consideration his shirt as well. Chuckling sleepily to himself Naruto then proceeded to climb into his sleeping bag and curl up with the warm and soft pillow he found inside. After that he was once more lost to the realm of sleep and dreaming very odd dreams...very, very odd dreams.

But that damn pillow sure was comfortable.

* * *

Ino woke up slowly to the odd, yet pleasant, sensations of warm breath tickling the nape of her neck and something hard pressed tightly against her. It felt like a kunai, yet she had no question that the breath on her neck was nice. Which meant, in her sleep clouded brain, it was Sasuke. 

That wasn't quite right however, she realized a few seconds later through her sleep haze. The black-haired god was miles away, possibly still in Konoha and whatever was pressing against her didn't quite feel like a kunai. Hesitating she shifted in the sleeping bag before cautiously slipping a hand behind her.

She then slid her hand away.

She laid there, her mind working furiously. Sasuke wasn't around and if he was, he wasn't likely to turn up in her bed. Naruto, dumb as he was, would have more sense than to do something so perverted and stupid. So that left either Shino or Hayate...but the person behind her didn't feel like he was even as tall as her.

Opening her blue eyes slowly, she stared at the side of her tent for a moment wondering. The simple answer would be to just unzip the bag, climb out and see who it was. Shifting slightly, which meant she had to press against the 'kunai' even more, she tugged at the zipper and found it stuck.

Frowning she stopped, then she felt the male behind her stirring as he woke up, she heard a yawn followed by a moment of silence. Ino felt the way he quit breathing, though his 'kunai' never seemed to change. Then she started seeing red when she heard a familiar male voice whispering a prayer.

Ino narrowed her eyes, anger and embarrassment building inside her. Ino might have even let him escape unharmed to avoid the embarrassment...until the 'kunai' pressed against her like she was a holster.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO, YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!"

That shouted, the sleeping bag was ripped asunder as Naruto promptly tried to escape and Ino grabbed him around the neck to alternate strangling and beating him senseless. In Naruto's defense, his innocent act was flawless but Ino didn't care, all that mattered was killing the blond pervert. He tried to make another break for it during a moment while Ino caught her breath.

He was promptly rewarded with a swift blow to his crotch from behind.

Whimpering in pain he had no choice but to suffer the continued wraith of Ino who, as was widely known, had no mercy when she was pissed. An hour later, finally finished beating the boy to within an inch of death Ino dusted her hands off turned and marched out of her tent.

Who did that bastard think he was? Did he just think she wouldn't beat him? Her anger was only compounded when she found Hayate and Shino staring at her.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT!" Ino shouted at Shino, actually radiating enough killer intent to make him flinch before wisely turning back to his bugs.

Ino huffed trying to calm down, she tried to rationalize a reason why he would turn up like that in her tent. Sadly it was impossible, Ino could see no damn reason why he would ever show up in her sleeping bag. Running her fingers through her hair she huffed, noticing the slate colored sky as she marched into the forest, looking for a stream.

Maybe those guy's could stand to go without a bath but Ino demanded one, especially after having _that_ Naruto pressed against her. Twenty minutes later she stopped and stomped her foot in frustration glaring heavenward. "Why me?! Huh? Why!" In answer there was a clap of thunder, signaling the beginning of the early morning shower.

Oh that was just perfect, first she got a pervert as a teammate and now she was going to get drenched.

Was she such a bad person that she had to be punished like this? Grumbling, knowing defeat when faced with it, Ino sloshed her way through the rain avoiding the mud as best she could. She could handle getting wet, she could handle Naruto, but if her clothes were ruined by mud she would go ballistic.

* * *

Hayate normally liked going out on missions, even easy ones like this, because they always seemed to help him. He could breath easier, felt more energy and even with the humid air, it was no different. Save that he now had a throbbing headache, one that had nothing to do with being sickness. 

No, this headache had one source. A source dressed in bright orange, had the worst singing voice he had ever heard and constantly pissed off Ino. A girl who had a way of screeching that made even Naruto's singing voice sound pleasant. Hayate honestly could not see why Anko had not killed the blond immediately.

He knew Anko, they had worked together once, she was not a very tolerant person. As a matter of fact the only person she had ever seemed to get along with like a normal person was Kakashi. So why she had not only allowed Naruto to live but trained him to the level he was at completely baffled Hayate. Reaching up with his free hand Hayate rubbed at the bridge of his nose, wondering why he had ever let Yugao talk him into being a Jōnin-sensei.

A wry smile found its way to his face as he remembered _exactly_ how she had convinced him. Thinking about her Hayate felt a brief moment of interest in what exactly she was even thinking about their relationship. He shrugged it off however, shifting back into serious ninja mode. Eyes darting around Hayate concentrated on finding the landmark that had been in the mission scroll.

He had just started to think that they weren't close yet when he saw the ANBU marker hidden in the bark of a tree.

Glancing at the sky he nodded to himself before looking around. They had made good time, despite having to wait for the rain to end and for Naruto to recover. Hayate considered the various factors and decided that they could probably make it a bit further after they met the contact and then they would have to stop for the night.

Three days wasn't so bad, especially for a Genin team. It would probably take a week to settle things and then another three days, so they'd be gone a total of thirteen days. Maybe Yugao was right about this being a kind of vacation, thirteen days in the field, on a C-rank mission that they would receive B-rank pay for.

After a few more minutes of travel, Hayate finally spotted their contact before anyone else. The man was short, balding and heavyset. However there was something about his bearing that told Hayate there was more to his man than normal. Seconds later the others noticed him and came to a stop allowing Hayate to move forward to met the man.

"You must be the ninja from Konoha." The balding man said anxiously, rubbing his hands together while eying Hayate. "I'm the Headman of Nigoriki, Yakanatama Joji."

"Ummm...I'm Gekko Hayate." The sick J ōnin said, covering his mouth as he coughed. "This is Yamanaka Ino, Aburame Shino and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ahh! Good, good, I was beginning to worry..." Joji said smiling faintly, fishing out a colored silk hanker chef to dab at his forehead. "I'm so pleased that you arrived safely, bandit raids are increasing lately."

Hayate nodded, filing that information away for future consideration. "Perhaps we should start for the village then."

"Of course." Joji said, almost brightening. "Just follow me and don't worry...we should be there by the time the sun sets tomorrow."

"The way you say that sounds like its not soon enough." Ino suddenly interjected, causing the man to pause and glance at her with a reassuring smile.

"I don't like being out of the village longer than I have to be."

* * *

Ino didn't like the path the instant they started down it, first off it was narrow and she was forced to follow close behind Shino in single file. Second off, the trees -which could barely support a pair of blackened leaves- formed a sort of gloomy tunnel and the path wound it's way around the trunks. The air was so oppressive that after several minutes their feet thumped against the ground loudly. 

Even Naruto was subdued by the atmosphere.

Ino felt her heart take an upswing every time she saw a slender beam of light that broke it's way through the leaves far above and avoided being caught in the matted twigs and tangled limbs. All too soon however these shafts of light ceased and Ino was forced to endure the gloom without solace and at times forced to grab the back of Shino's jacket to keep from getting lost.

It felt like they had been traveling for hours and Ino was past the point of caring about much of anything. All she wanted was to reach the village so she could take a warm bath and relax. It seemed that a god heard Ino's silent wish for soon enough they reached a much brighter stretch of forest and Ino felt herself cheering up at this, without the undergrowth the shadow was no where near as deep and while the light was greenish it was at least light!

Ino also took comfort in the fact that they now had a semi-fresh breeze. Thankfully they passed through what remained of the forest in another hour and she was once more bathed in the wonderful rays of the sun, even if it was starting to dip beyond the horizon.

"I think we should stop for the night." Joji said, while wiping at the back of his neck with the hanker chef and glancing around at the field. "We should reach the village by noon tomorrow."

"Oi, why can't we keep going?" Naruto asked.

Joji nervously rubbed at his hands. "Well, we have to cross a deep ravine using a rope bridge."

Ino froze, her pack half off her shoulder, staring at the man suspiciously. "Like, why do I get the feeling there's something about this bridge your not telling us?"

"Er...it's not exactly whole." Joji explained laughing nervously. "I nearly fell five times getting to this side of the ravine."

" Right," Naruto said, giving a thumbs up. "Well, uhmm...then I guess its a good idea to stop for the night."

Ino rolled her eyes and turned back to unpacking her sleeping mat, not wanting a repeat of what had happened last night. Locating the flattest and driest surface that she could she unrolled it, pleased that Hayate was smart enough to set up the camp fire nearby.

Setting down on her mat Ino lifted her pack and started shifting through it for the essentials; food, water, a mirror and brush. Kami she couldn't wait to get back indoors then she could have a bath, wash her clothes and take proper care of her hair. Grumbling she worked the ponytail loose and ran the brush through, wincing at every knot that she had to struggle with.

"Kami I'm hungry," Naruto grumbled, flopping down near her with a splattering of mud, a cup of ramen in his hand.

Ino froze as the mud hit the edge of her sleeping mat, then glared at him. "Ugh, don't you have anyone else to annoy?" Naruto paused looking up, about to say something with a mouth full of ramen causing Ino to grimace. "You are so disgusting! Kami, don't you ever eat anything else?"

Narrowing his eyes Naruto gulped his food down without chewing. "Oi, like your any better! Besides, don't you know that ramen is the perfect meal? A gift from the gods!"

Ino rolled her eyes, turning back to her mirror. There was no point in trying to argue with that moron, wincing at a particularly cruel knot she wondered why she had to be punished like this. Finishing up she shoved her brush into the pack, then looked around to see what was going on. Finding everyone settling in for their own meals Ino shook her head and pulled her knees up, resting her chin on them, staring at the fire.

She was starting to doze when Hayate decided to speak up, his voice jarring her back into the real world. "Joji-san, would you mind telling us a little bit about what is going on?"

Interest peeked, Ino shifted her attention to the heavy set man who looked startled. He nodded after a moment then set his own meal aside before clearing his throat.

"Of course." The headman said, looking up, his face highlighted oddly by the flames. "Well the village is located on the edge of an ancient forest that surrounds the ruins of an old castle. The village has served as a trading center for the local logging crews and it was doing very well, every body was happy and safe. Then about six months ago there were random disappearances, at first a hunting party here or a farmer and his family there."

"Oi, and you didn't tell anyone sooner?!" Naruto demanded heatedly, only to have Joji brush him off calmly.

"People disappear quite often. They leave for other villages or sometimes fall into the ravine that isolates our village, or get caught in a rock slide in the mountains that back the forest." Joji shrugged shifting his gaze back to Hayate. "However, when the the flow of wood began to disappear we grew extremely worried and searched the camps. We found nothing, no clues as to where they went, just empty camps."

"A perfect example of a C-ranked mission." Hayate nodded, coughing before he settled down. "So why did you upgrade the level?"

"There were several reasons, the main reason however was the village elders urged for it since the merchant guilds were getting very unruly. An example of this was that one guild hired several freelance fighters, who turned out to be nothing more than bandits." Joji shrugged sighing. "I was forced to upgrade the mission, though I highly doubt its B-ranked. I even explained that to the man that I spoke too and he agreed."

"So that is why they allowed my team to continue wi th the mission despite it's rank." Hayate mused, glancing at the three Genin. "Umm...well, I think we'll be able to handle things. After we reach the village we'll decide what to do."

Ino sighed and closed her eyes, thank the gods that it wasn't raining. Then she felt a drop of water on her forehead, followed by another and she sighed. "Of course..."

* * *

The ropes creaked as the rope bridge swayed over the deep ravine, whose bottom disappeared into a thick fog, while ahead just barely visible where the craggy mountain peeks that overlooked this stretched of land. Hayate paused, clutching both sides of the bridge, following the mountain range until it disappeared from sight due to distance. The mission report hadn't been lying, this village really was isolated. 

Shaking it off he started forward once more, keeping a close eye on the creaking boards and the four people in front of him. Joji was taking things slow but confidential, Naruto was grumbling but otherwise behaved, Ino was silent, her hands clutching the ropes and Shino was walking calmly. He really hoped that they didn't overtax this bridge, he had no desire to find the bottom of the ravine.

He hated to think of how anyone ever managed trade with such a bridge, especially a logging village. It presented a problem, at least until Hayate realized the simple solution. If the forest butted against the edge of the ravine, then a simple pulley system could be set up and the logs could be sent across to an awaiting wagon from the customer. It would be simple, direct and most importantly it would keep their monopoly on the logging trade.

Stepping off the bridge, following Shino, Hayate paused glancing at the two haggard looking men on either side. Obviously an attempt at keeping the bridge in the villages control, the men offered a polite greeting to Joji and the heavy-set man returned it warmly. Hayate took the moment to study the layout of the land, noting that the forest would block any direct line of sight with the bridge.

"Well, shall we? I'm sure we're all ready to be in Nigoriki." Joji suddenly said, his tone more energetic as he set off at a brisk pace.

Ino groaned before staggering after the man, which worried Hayate. He had known Ino had lower stamina and chakra than the rest of the team, she barely put any effort into her training after all, but he had thought she was at least tough enough to handle a bit of a march. Naruto was practically bouncing with each step, which according to the Kusa mission report he had read, was to be expected.

Ino however was almost dragging her feet, forcing Hayate to consider options. If he tried to force her into training she might give up, he would have to speak with Yūgao and see what she could suggest. Kami, how he hated having girls on his team, he was never sure how to handle them. Of course if she could find some sort of motivation he would have nothing to worry about.

Coughing Hayate frowned, well Ino had shown some interest in Kenjutsu. Maybe if he spoke to her about it again she would ask for him to train her. He hoped so, she would be perfect for it since kenjutsu required very little stamina compared to taijutsu and ninjutsu.

"We're almost there now." Joji said brightly from the lead, picking up the pace. Hayate remained silent, putting though ts about Ino out of his mind and instead thought about how best to go about this mission. Gathering information would be needed, stuff that Joji left out since headmen almost always omitted something.

Nodding to himself he relaxed, pleased when they finally swung north and then back south so that the village was suddenly within sight. It was located in a pleasant looking valley, with high walls made of what appeared to be only recently seasoned timber with sharp points. Obviously they were designed to deter either animals or humans. The gates looked solid, with sentry slits.

Following Joji, Hayate was unsurprised by the security both visible and invisible. The Genin however seemed unaware of how many eyes and arrows were targeted on them at that moment. Except Naruto who gave an empty patch of the village wall a middle finger as he walked.

Drawing to a stop before the wall, they watched as a man's head suddenly appeared above the wall to stare down at them. "Joji-san, is that you?"

"Yes, Aki-san." Joji said tiredly, wiping at his forehead with his rag. "Isn't that obvious?"

"S-sorry," Aki said, cheeks flushing faintly. Then clearing his throat he spoke up. "I need the password for this week!"

"Aki, if you can see it is me...and these are the Konoha Ninja, must you insist on this?" Joji asked, his tone exasperated.

"Yes, sorry, Joji-san but you were the one that told me to do this to everybody." Aki said apologetically.

"Fine." Joji muttered glancing at them before shuffling forward to whisper the word through the gate to whoever was on the other side. Seconds later Aki disappeared behind the wall before reappearing.

"One minute!"

"He must have broken something to be this proper..." Joji muttered before brightening as he gestured with an expansive hand as the gates swung open. "Welcome the Village of Nigoriki."

Hayate followed the others inside, followed by Joji and the closing the gates. The Jōnin had expected as much, the streets were almost empty, the buildings seemed solid enough but there was obviously very little business going on with the loss of the loggers. Besides that, there was a sense of despair blanketing the area.

The few people on the street were jittery and their eyes kept darting all around them searching for the hidden attackers that plagued their lives. They were all on edge, which seemed to put the three young ninja on edge as well. Hayate had seen this sort of thing before, so he merely turned his attention back to an expectant Joji.

"I see what you mean. Umm...once we've had a chance to rest properly we'll set out and take a look around." Hayate said, coughing before he glanced causally in a random direction.

Joji nodded and turned gesturing for them to follow him once more. "Of course. We've selected the best Inn we could for your use. It's on the north side of the village, isolated and secured. It also has a hot spring that bubbles from the rock into a natural bath."

Hayate noted Ino's sudden upswing in attention and repressed his sigh.

A minute later they were standing at the doorway of the room inside a medium sized inn that looked almost unused. The room itself was small and rather meager compared to other Inn's, but it was well kept and clean. It also was warm which was a plus since the nights were growing steadily colder. On the clean, hardwood floors, rested two neatly made futons one of which rested under the only window in the entire room.

Hayate nodded to himself, turning to face the three Genin that were hovering near the doorway. Ino was glaring at Naruto who was talking animatedly with an impassive looking Shino. Maybe it was time that they were sent far away, or at least far enough away that Hayate could concentrate on things.

"Ummm...why don't you three go get dinner?" Hayate finally offered, coughing yet again. "I'd like sushi..."

"Oi! Why do we have to do that?" Naruto piped up, disagreeable as always.

Hayate repressed his sigh and instead slipped his pack off and placed it on the futon near the window. "Ummm...because you might also learn some information that Joji-san didn't want to share."

Seeing the recognition on the blonds face Hayate breathed easier, or as easy as he could considering his health.

"Do you really think that Joji-san was keeping something from us?" Ino asked curiously.

Surprisingly it was Shino that answered. "Of course. Everyone keeps something from people they shouldn't."

Hayate only coughed, which earned him disgruntled looks from the Genin before they left.

* * *

In the gathering gloom just before sunset, a small side gate opened noiselessly as the guard deliberately turned his back to allow a lone figure, dressed in a traveling cloak to slip unchallenged out of the village and into the silent forest. The figure, a bald heavy set man, hurried among the trees, keeping his cloak around him tightly. 

The figure moved quickly and sure-footed through a maze of paths, barely disturbing a leaf, he had been one of the villages best hunters when he had been younger. Finally after several long minutes, in which the gloom of the forest had deepened, he reached the prearranged location and stopped.

"You're late Joji-san." A deep voice said hidden among the shadows of the nearby trees.

Joji turned toward the voice, his face set into a slight scowl. "I can't leave just whenever you like, there are problems I have to handle. Things that must be dealt with before-"

"Yes, yes..." The mysterious man, dressed in a hooded cloak said, stepping into view. "We have noticed that. You brought more people in."

"I had no choic-" Joji started to protest until the man cut him off.

"We asked you to keep outsiders away for the moment."

"Which I told you was impossible," Joji snapped. "However, these people are unique. I think she'll forgive me for these interesting people."

"Define interesting." The mysteriously hooded man responded.

"Ninja."

"Ninja?"

"Yes." Joji nodded anxiously.

The hooded man paused, as if listening to something, then turned as if to leave. "Then we will let you live."

"Let me live?" Joji paused, smiling faintly. "You are so gracious."

The man tensed, turning to stare at Joji intently. "Do not make the mistake that you are beyond our touch...she is free and there are always those that are willing to serve her."

"Oh I am sure." Joji said, lifting his chin defiantly. "However, I am Minmoto-Yakanatama-no-Joji, last surviving heir of the Minmoto Clan. Do not forget with whom you speak."

The man was silent for several long minutes before he spoke, his tone oddly amused. "Do not worry, Minmoto-Yakanatama-no-Joji, neither she nor I shall forget with whom we speak."


	10. Chapter 9: Dire Discoveries

**Naruto:  
**Altered History  
Chapter 9:  
_-Dire Discoveries-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

The countryside of Fire Country was very beautiful in the morning; idyllic was the word most often used. The way the reds and blues mixed, bringing out the dark green of the forest. Even more enchanting was the stillness of the forest floor and how, if you were lucky enough to be strolling early in the morning you could stumble across a deer. Yes, idyllic was the word to use.

Not that Naruto cared. As far as the blond was concerned, the animals and the sunrise could jump off a cliff and die. All he wanted was to be curled up under a warm blanket, sleeping like a log. Yawning, he stumbled, but caught himself and kept moving, keeping his place in the diamond formation, while wondering why they had to start so early in the morning.

They had been out here for a week, and so far they had found several empty camps, but no clues. Would it really make any difference if they checked out these abandoned camps later in the day? He wasn't asking for sunset, but damn it, would noon have been so bad? He would have asked Hayate but just couldn't bring himself to.

Silently cursing the man, Naruto tried to force himself to stop thinking about it but, like anyone that tried to avoid thinking about a certain subject, Naruto couldn't help it. Ino was one thing. He expected her to treat him this way--after all, she had never treated him all that well. Shino ignoring him was nothing new either; after all, the odd boy had ignored him and everyone else for as long as Naruto could remember.

That didn't mean he liked it, however, and the more he dwelled on it the more aggravated he became. He couldn't wait to get back to Konoha so he could work with Anko, pain or no pain. At least she LISTENED to what he had to say. He felt a chill race along his spine as he realized what he had just thought.

Frowning, he shook all of that off. He needed to concentrate on the mission.

He was so caught up in that strange paradox he almost crashed into the group as the team came to a sudden halt. It took some quick work, but Naruto managed to land without doing anything to give Ino an excuse to ridicule him. Grumbling, the blond crouched, wondering at the strange look on Hayate's face, then looked down at the camp and froze. Unlike the other camps, which had looked nothing more than abandoned, this one was in ruins.

There were tattered tents and debris scattered all over the place; Naruto started taking those stories about demons the old men had told him in Nigoirki seriously. He just couldn't see any animals or ninja totally ruining a camp like this.

"Hayate-sensei, what happened?" Ino asked after a moment, her tone uneasy.

"Umm...I'm not sure," Hayate said crouching down, studying the camp intently. "This is very unusual."

"This is...Could it have been some sort of wild animal?" Ino suggested in confusion. "Like, a pack of wild dogs?"

"I don't think so," Hayate said, coughing softly. "Ummm...Naruto, can you create a couple of Kage Bunshin to check on things?"

Naruto nodded. Putting his personal feelings aside, he did just that, sending in three Kage Bunshin before glancing at Hayate in curiosity. "Oi, so why'd you want me to make the clones?"

"Umm...in case that enemy ninja were behind this," Hayate explained. "They might have left a trap; this way a Bunshin can set it off and we can avoid losing anyone."

"Oh."

"Wait a minute," Ino interjected. "A Bunshin is just an illusion, so, like, how can it set off a trap?"

"Well these are Kage Bunshin." Hayate explained, coughing as he stood. "This is an advanced technique used for various functions, primarily spying."

"That still doesn't explain how it works," Ino responded snorting.

"The technique creates physical bodies that are indistinguishable from the user, Ino-san, and any information they gather is sent back instantly to the user once they disappear." Hayate sighed before leaping into a nearby tree without another word. Naruto, however, remained where he was, surprised at the knowledge he had just learned about his signature technique.

He wasn't so distracted, though, that he could miss Ino's snort or Shino's odd glance before both followed Hayate into the other. Why hadn't Anko ever explained that? All she had ever been interested in was making sure he could use his chakra more effectively. Filing that information away for later, Naruto followed the rest of his team.

* * *

"Damn forest," Ino muttered, surreptitiously pulling at her purple top to stop it from sticking to her. First there had been rain, and then the sun had decided it was time to show up, and now she was sweating so badly that her clothes were sticking to her. The forest shade wasn't helping to cool things off either, and she just thanked the gods that she had decided on wearing a sleeveless top.

Glancing at her three male teammates, Ino honestly couldn't understand how those three could wear such hot clothing. Didn't they understand that they were running a high chance of heat exhaustion? Maybe they just didn't feel the heat, but she found that impossible to believe, especially with the way that Naruto kept wiping at his face every few minutes. For a moment she felt like saying something, but decided that, even if he was a perverted idiot, even he deserved to be left alone in this heat.

Shaking her head, Ino turned her attention back to the tree limbs passing beneath her, working twice as hard to maintain her pace. They had only been on the move for two hours, ever since the discovery of that first ruined camp, but she could already feel her body starting to wear down. Ino masked her groan as a sigh, wishing she had more stamina and chakra, even though she had already accepted that she was possibly one of the weakest people out of their graduating class.

Thinking of weak people caused her to glance once more at Naruto. A little over a week ago, she would have said he was the weakest one from their class. However, it had become obvious to her that he had stamina and chakra galore, at least one advanced jutsu, and no problem with tree walking or climbing.

Ino grudgingly began to accept the possibility that Naruto _could_ be as strong as Sasuke.

Tiredly, she looked ahead once more, studying the grey of Shino's jacket and the green of the forest as they darted through the trees. The only sound was the rustling of leaves, the twang of a tree branch and the occasional muttered curse, which ultimately started to annoy Ino more than anything. It was too silent, which meant it was boring and Ino was not a person that could stand boredom for long.

Which meant, naturally, that Ino had to decide how to stop herself from getting bored. She could try to talk with Shino, but the boy really wasn't much on conversations. She could try to talk with Hayate, but he tended just to cough, say a few words and then let her carry the conversation. She could talk with Naruto--or, more to the point, aggravate him and, thus, get into an argument--which would be fun, but pointless.

Or she could play a game she had created shortly after meeting her new sensei. She had yet to name it, but it really was quite simple. All she did was take a person, usually male, and apply her fashion -conscious mind toward finding the proper 'look' for them.

Ino smiled to herself, deciding that the game would be the best choice, which meant she now needed a subject. Sadly her subject choices were severely limited; Ino had already decided that Shino had a good 'look' and that Hayate would look best in black and green instead of all green. Which meant she really had only one other person to select for her game.

Ino grimaced just thinking about Naruto-–or, more correctly, his orange jacket-- but she glanced at him anyway to memorize certain things she needed to get the proper picture. After several minutes of intense study, she looked away, a headache starting to throb behind her eyes, and set her mind to work.

First she would select his primary color, something that would give her a basis to work from in his color scheme. Which meant she needed to select the easiest of the three primary colors to work with, red. More precisely, she began with orange and started darkening it through various shades of red. That, however, produced an even worse look for him than orange, which she had not even thought possible.

Undaunted, she decided to replace red with blue and began working her way through the various shades. Aqua, azure, cerulean, indigo, navy, turquoise… None of those produced the right result either, which irked Ino slightly but she soldiered on, switching the blues for yellow. She got as far as canary yellow before she felt her headache worsen and she quickly switched to the secondary colors, starting with purple.

Ino however, made a very annoying discovery: purple wasn't working. He looked horrible in mauve, violet and any other shade! That should have been impossible. After all, he had blond hair and blue eyes; he should have at least looked natural in that color. Instead, to her horror, he looked like a fat man in a pair of speedos!

Angry, she moved onto the other secondary colors, skipping brown completely in favor for green. She got as far as olive green before she realized that it wasn't his color at all. Frowning, she wondered what else to try and decided that maybe grey was the key. After several attempts at picturing him in grey colors she decided that color wasn't for him either.

Which left her with only two options: white and black. Realizing just how difficult this would be, Ino paused her game to consider why the others had failed. Thankfully, she had plenty of time since Hayate had told them they wouldn't reach the next camp site until later in the day.

It didn't take her long, now that she was thinking about it, to figure out what the problem was. His hair was a brighter blond than hers, bright yellow instead of pale yellow, and his blue eyes were brighter. Which meant almost any primary color on him would be a horrible choice...unless it was a neutral color.

Ino carefully weighed both white and black, and then settled on black. Concentrating, she pictured him in jet black clothes and was startled at just how well that color worked. His blond hair stood out boldly and his eyes seemed even brighter; it was the perfect primary color for him. Then, as she stared at this mental image, she found herself making a realization that quickly made her stop playing the game.

Shaken, she felt eyes on her and glanced at the blond in question and found him giving her a curious look. "Why the hell are you looking at me?" Ino snapped.

"'Cause you kept looking at me." Naruto retorted.

"Only because I couldn't believe how disgusting you were!" Ino shot back.

"At least I'm not so ug-" Naruto started to say, only to have Hayate cut him off.

"Uhmm...Naruto-san, Ino-san please be quiet. We could be surrounded by enemies and I would like to hear their approach instead of your bickering," Hayate said, followed by a soft cough.

Naruto grumbled heatedly, shooting her another look before he turned his attention away from her.

Ino sighed, looking away as well, glad that neither one had seemed to notice the faint tint in her cheeks. "Kami-sama help me, but he _was_ cuter," Ino muttered softly to herself, unable to believe that for one minute she had thought that Naruto was cuter than Sasuke.

* * *

Landing adroitly, Naruto glanced at Shino, Hayate and Ino before starting off on his own, wandering through the debris of the camp. This was the fifth camp they had visited today, and just like the others it was in ruins with no discernable reason. Even his Kage Bunshin --which had become standard procedure-- could find no traps. Not that Naruto expected to find any; he was convinced this was the work of forest demons of some sort.

Kneeling next to an overturned field kit, he studied it for a moment, then glanced over at the others, watching as each one went about searching for a clue. He frowned, watching Ino for several minutes, wondering why she was apparently going out of her way to avoid him. Not that he was going to complain about that, but this seemed like something different that what he was used to.

Maybe there was something wrong with her. Naruto frowned a bit more. As much as he disliked her, he was the only one that seemed to notice anything wrong. Could he just be imagining things? Shaking his head he stood, preparing to confront her when he froze feeling as if something was watching him.

Turning, he scanned the area around him and then, for no discernable reason, he started walking toward a clump of trees. He felt like he was being drawn toward something, like there was something that was nagging at the edge of his mind. He paused, looking around, then continued on his way moving uncertainly--towards what, he had no clue. Frowning deeply now, Naruto followed this odd feeling of familiarity.

It was like there was a part of him trying to remember some half-forgotten memory, but he couldn't figure it out. Shaking it off, he came to a stop in front of the trees and knelt at what appeared to be a patch of normal ground. He started to leave, but then part of him insisted that he checked it more closely.

Pulling a kunai, he studied the undisturbed ground, straining his eyes. Just as he was about to give up, he hesitated, wondering if he saw a groove there or not. Using a finger first, he traced the edge, discovering a strange thin film, which prompted him to use his kunai. Slipping the kunai into the groove, he applied pressure for several minutes until he was finally rewarded with a lid of sorts popping open.

Using his left hand, he leveraged it up, staring into the odd tunnel. He was getting a bad feeling from this thing, but as far as he could tell it was merely the entrance to an underground storage area. Should he tell Hayate about this or go down by himself? Hayate would say he should be told, but he could feel his instincts say that he should go alone first.

"Naruto, we're leaving!" Ino suddenly shouted, and Naruto jerked, startled so much that the kunai slipped and the lid slammed shut. Turning, he focused on Ino who was waiting on him impatiently while he could see Hayate and Shino already on the move through the trees.

"Oi! You don't have to shout!" Naruto shouted back, climbing to his feet and glaring at her out of habit. He was actually surprised she had bothered to wait on him, and he didn't want to piss her off to much.

"Look who's talking!" Ino snapped at him, crossing her arms. "Come on, Hayate-sensei wants to check out one more camp for the night."

Naruto grumbled, but stood, wondering why she was suddenly being so nice to him. Well, nice for her at least; it was still downright hostile by other people's standards. Still, Naruto decided as he moved toward her, no point in wasting her sudden bout of kindness.

He was halfway to her when he felt something and paused, turning to stare at the area behind but found nothing but empty air. "What the hell?" Naruto muttered, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Like, are you coming or not?" Ino demanded curtly which snapped him out of his confusion. Grumbling, Naruto hurriedly reached her side, then gave one last glance behind him to double check. "Come on, hurry up idiot." Ino said as she jumped into the tree behind them and took off.

Naruto followed suit and was soon pacing beside her, while Hayate and Shino maintained their lead. "Oi, are you always this slow?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"Oh is this too slow for you?" Ino shot back unexpectedly. "Okay, baka, try to keep up then." That said she increased her speed, darting several trees ahead.

Naruto blinked, wondering where the hell she had gotten that burst of speed from. Then he grinned, deciding to prove just how awesome he really was. It took only a little concentration, and then he was darting after her, covering the distance she had gained in a matter of seconds. Pacing her for a moment, he took a sort of entertainment from her surprise, then he stuck his tongue out, returning her earlier jab tit-for-tat "Okay, piggy, now you try to keep up."

That said, he pulled ahead of her easily, listening to her curse as she struggled to catch up to him. Hah! That should show her! Grinning, Naruto filed away this victory for future remembrance and instead concentrated on other matters, such as Sakura and his future as Hokage.

Feeling doubly pleased, he added some acrobatics to his leaps, only stopping when Hayate told him to stop clowning around. Grumbling at the unfairness of it, Naruto glanced behind him to see Ino trailing after them. The look on her face promised nothing but violence.

Feeling guilty, he dropped back, remaining out of her reach, but close enough that she wasn't travelling alone. Her glare almost made him wish he had stayed up there with Hayate and Shino. Still, if she got exhausted then she could get killed and for the moment she was his teammate. "Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ino muttered glaring at him. "Are you here to, like, torture me some more?" Ino suddenly demanded startling Naruto.

Naruto blinked staring at her, then realized that maybe his showing off just now in his little race with her wasn't the right thing to do. Still, the way she was glaring at him... Well it _was_ her fault. She had started it. Then he remembered what Iruka had told him once: _"It doesn't matter who started it. What matters is how you handle it."_ "Damn it." Naruto cursed wishing he could have not remembered that.

"Heh, sorry to ruin it for you," Ino grumbled, her breathing getting labored.

"Oi, you're the one that started the damn race," Naruto said defensively.

"Race?" Ino deadpanned staring at him. "I wasn't racing, and even if I did, you were the one that started it. _'Are you always this slow?'_ Remember?"

Naruto coughed. Oh, yeah, he _had_ said that. Suddenly, he realized that Ino was slowing even more and he followed suit, which earned him a strange look from Ino. "What?"

"I'm just, like, trying to figure out what the hell you're doing."

"I'm making sure you're ok," Naruto said, wondering what her problem was.

"Yeah, sure..."

"Oi, look maybe we don't like each other alright but we are on the same team," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "Geez, what is it with you?"

"I didn't know you cared," Ino said sarcastically.

Naruto sighed and just stayed quiet. It was his fault, after all; and besides, like he had told her, they were teammates. Still he couldn't wait for this damn mission to be over so he could get the hell away from them.

* * *

To say that Ino was put off was an understatement. After all, Naruto's apparent concern for her had held steady for the last two hours. Even after she had told him she was fine, even after she tried to pull ahead, Naruto wouldn't let her get away from him. He stayed out of her reach--a wise move she thought--but he kept pace with her no matter what.

It thoroughly confused her, and she kept reminding herself that he was really just a perverted idiot. On the other hand, she took some comfort in the fact that Naruto was more interesting to travel with than Shino was. After all, Naruto was always willing to bicker and argue with her.

Ino was so lost in her own little world that she just barely brought herself to a stop before she slammed into Shino.

She teetered for a moment, and then caught her balance. Grumbling, she glared between Shino and Hayate's shoulders to stare at the final campsite for the day. It, like the others, was in ruins, but it seemed fresher to her, more recent. Still, it reaffirmed her thought that a camp full of loggers should have at least manage to kill something.

"Ummm...looks the same as the last few," Hayate said softly, studying the camp intently. "Naruto-san?" Seconds later there were three soft pops and three orange blurs were hurtling into the camp. Ino shifted her weight slightly, wondering why they even bothered with those damn things; it wasn't like they had ever found a hint of a trap.

"All clear," Naruto finally said, his tone bored.

"Alright, same as before. Shino with me, Ino you're with Naruto," Hayate said, and then, as all three genin nodded, he led the way into the camp. Shino landed and, regaining his balance, started searching the immediate area while Hayate went to the left, leaving Naruto and Ino to take the far side of the camp.

Letting Naruto move away from her slightly, Ino went through the motions wanting to find something, but lacking the energy for an actual search. She mused idly with accepting Naruto's theory, but then decided that was insane. Ino was not about to buy Naruto's insane theory about demons eating people's souls.

The blond was so damn gullible it wasn't even funny; imagine believing a bunch of old men's stories about demons in the forest! Shaking her head, she started searching in earnest. Sifting through the ruined tents and overturned carts, she felt the annoying beginnings of hunger pains.

Oh great, just what she needed. Standing upright, Ino opened her mouth to say something to Hayate, only to stop short when she heard the sound of something rushing through the forest. Turning, she strained her eyes, trying to figure out what was charging around in there, her hand even going so far as trailing to a kunai for protection.

Unable to make anything out, she marked it off as her imagination and turned just as something suddenly slammed into her from the side and knocked her to the ground. "Yah!" A deep voice shouted from over her. Ino was reeling from the impact and couldn't quite gather what was happening.

Then, suddenly the weight was taken away and she sat up, cheeks red from anger and embarrassement, surprised to find Hayate and Shino subduing the person that had slammed into her. The guy was babbling insanely, his teeth were yellowed and his skin held a sickly pallor. Ino couldn't help but grimace, realizing _that_ had been what tackled her. Climbing to her feet, she dusted herself off, glaring at the man.

"Get away...you gotta get away...take me with you...!"

Ino shook her head, glancing at Shino who had raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Suddenly the man's fear morphed almost immediately into hope as he grasped Hayate's hands while looking around at them excitedly. "Thank the kami for you, for all of you...this is great...I though I was...I hid, but they kept hunting and I knew they knew where I was...oh they thought I didn't but they did."

"Listen...can you tell us anything about who's been attacking the loggers?" Hayate asked calmly, a hand on the man's shoulder.

Ino watched the sheer terror that filled the man's face, followed by spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. A paroxysm of insane laughter shook him and he shook his head. "No,nonononononono..."

"Can you lead us back to where you were attack-" Hayate started ask, only to stop as he realized the man wasn't moving.

Ino backed away slightly, surprised at the sudden silence. What the hell had happened?

Hayate stood, his face serious. "Dead." Coughing, he turned, staring at his team. "We're going back the way he came; maybe we'll find out what's going on."

"Oi, but what about this? I think I found a clue!" Naruto suddenly said, waving a large _something_ in front of him.

"What is that?" Hayate asked, blinking as he grabbed the boy's hand to hold it still.

"I think it's a spider's leg!" Naruto said excitedly.

"It looks more like a piece of Konoha bamble..." Ino responded, studying the long spiny object in the blond's hand.

"It is not!" Naruto shouted defensively, pulling the item away from Hayate.

"Like, you're not going to say that these 'demons' of yours are giant spiders are you?" Ino rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" Naruto retorted excitedly. "Look if they're demonic spiders then-"

"Oh give it a rest! Those old men were just telling, like, tall tales. There are no demons eating people's souls," Ino retorted cutting the blond off.

"But-"

"Naruto, listen to what you're saying!" Ino demanded, narrowing her eyes. "'Giant demonic spiders are killing people and eating their souls.' Does that sound even remotely sane?"

"Oi, are you stupid?!" Naruto suddenly barked back, waving the object at her. "The Kyuubi was a GIANT DEMON FOX! What makes GIANT DEMONIC SPIDERS any less possible?"

"BECAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A GIANT SPIDER!" Ino shouted back.

"Ummm...actually I have seen large spiders before, within the Forest of Death," Hayate suddenly interjected. "It could be a group of nins that are using giant spiders."

"Like how my family uses bugs," Shino suggested calmly.

Ino fumed glaring at the other two; it was taking all of her will not to shout at them for obviously siding with another guy. She managed it however, giving a disdainful sniff. "Well, it's still not a demon!"

"It _is_ highly doubtful that a demon would take the shape of a spider. However at least now we know what we are dealing with," Hayate said before coughing "Uhmm...we need to hurry, the sun will be setting soon."

Ino grinned victoriously at a crestfallen looking Naruto who grumbled as they jumped into the tree's to follow the man's path.

* * *

"We've lost the trail..." Hayate muttered, crouching down. "Ummm...Stay close; the map Joji-san gave us shows we're close to the edge of the ravine."

Naruto nodded, resisting the urge to mutter in annoyance. It had been hours ago when they had theire first big lead:, that logger had left an obvious trail, but now there was nothing. Glancing around at the small natural clearing, the blond felt something creeping up the back of his neck.

It was like when he found that storage tunnel, or even that spider's legs--he didn't care what Ino said!--a part of him was shouting that there was something unnatural in the area. Shaking it off, he glanced at Ino who was carefully inspecting a set of trees, then Naruto glanced at Shino who was frozen for some strange reason.

"That's weird..." Naruto muttered, moving toward the boy; if Shino had frozen up, that could spell disaster for the team, much as Naruto's own experience with freezing had taught him. Reaching the other ninja's side, Naruto paused, looking around, before talking. "Oi, are you ok?"

Shino didn't speak. He didn't move. His attention seemed to be fixed on the forest floor for some reason, and Naruto followed his gaze, noting odd indentations. That weird feeling washed over him, and Naruto was just preparing to kneel and check out the indentations when Ino suddenly shrieked, distracting him. Snapping his head around, he saw her jumping backwards as five large spiders dropped to the ground from over head.

"Oh hell-" Naruto started to say only to jump backwards as well, carrying Shino with him, as the ground in front of him suddenly exploded upwards and another large spider came into the open. Landing, Naruto's eyes darted everywhere, his mind almost frantic at the sight of such massive creature surrounding them. "They're all around us!"

"THANKS FOR THE WARNING MISTER OBVIOUS!" Ino shrieked, a note of hysteria in her voice.

Then, as one, the spiders attacked.

"Umm...aim for their weak points," Hayate said, his sword hissing as it left the sheath to meet the spiders head on.

"Right!" Naruto shouted, ducking under one of the spiders as it lunged. On instinct, the blond produced a kunai, plunging it into the creatures stomach and heaved. Casting the monster aside, he glanced left to see Hayate slashing through the monsters with ease.

"Nothing's working!" Ino shouted and Naruto looked at her. She was struggling desperately, mostly just fending off the seeking fangs of the spider that was stalking her.

"Try their belly's!" Naruto shouted and then, realizing she wasn't paying attention to him, he grabbed a kunai and an explosive note. Looking up, he timed it just as the spider in question was leaping at her, and fired off his explosive kunai. Seconds later, the spider exploded in a shower of gore and Naruto started to work on more of his explosive kunai, ignoring Ino for the moment.

Naruto was so intent on this task that he was caught utterly flatfooted as a spider leaped at him. Then it was his turn to be showered in gore. Blinking in surprise he looked around to find Ino glaring at him as she prepared even more kunai. Naruto, however, grinned before remembering Shino. Spinning, the blond felt his breath hitch; there was the boy, in the same place as before, only now there was a spider slowly stalking towards him.

Naruto moved as if to launch an exploding kunai, only to have the spider sliced in half by Hayate. Then, seconds later, the man was pushing off the now dead spider to gain height and twirling his blade in an odd fashion before the few remaining spiders were sliced into gory chunks. Landing, Hayate crouched, glancing at Shino before speaking.

"Is everyone ok?"

"Like, I could seriously use a shower," Ino answered disgustedly, shooting Naruto a dark glare. "But yeah, I'm fine."

Naruto however was looking around, grinning slightly. He couldn't wait to tell Anko about this! Then he heard Ino's scream and he blinked, watching as the single largest spider he had ever seen came lumbering out of the forest. If the first spiders had been the size of dog's then the one that was charging at Hayate was the size of a horse.

Hayate dodge left then right, knocking Shino aside as he avoided the spider. Naruto, however, was already charging forward, exploding kunai in hand. Just as Naruto threw his first volley, Hayate darted out of range quicker than the eye could follow.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted happily, preparing to celebrate, since, obviously, nothing could have withstood that blast. His celebration was cut short, however, when the billowing smoke of the exploding kunai was parted, allowing a thick liquid to slam into his chest. He had time for one shouted curse and then he was pinned against the tree.

Dazed, Naruto hung there until he felt something hairy brushing against his cheeks. Recovering, he looked up and discovered himself staring into the multiple red eyes and very large fangs of the spider. Naruto wasn't sure how he managed it, but he freed an arm and lashed out as best he could, warding off those sword-sized fangs.

"Dance of the-" Hayate started to shout, only to have the spider spin and cut him off with a blast of webbing. Naruto, frantic, began to slice himself free from the webbing, only to jerk his head up as Ino's scream rent the air. Somehow, the blonde girl had managed to grab the Jonin's sword and was charging forward, making a chopping motion at the spider.

Naruto's eyes widened, wondering what the hell was going through her mind and then cursed his stupidity and went back to work on freeing himself. Then he heard Ino's second scream, and Naruto looked once more to see Ino sprawled on her ass, the sword nowhere to be seen and the spider hissing as it towered over her.

* * *

Ino, her breath hitching, crawled backwards as fast as she could, leaving the sword she had grabbed behind. What had she been thinking?! She had been terrified, watching as the spider had charged in, taking the only fighters on their team apart, and it was only when Hayate was taken down that her instincts had taken over. She couldn't even remember how she had reached Hayate's sword or charging at the monster; all she could remember was slashing at the thing and then being knocked on her ass.

Suddenly, she came to a jarring stop as she ran into a tree. It was in that moment that Ino realized that she was dead. She felt almost detached. Funny, she would have thought she'd panic more. Amazingly, it was at that moment that her mind started sending her memories, her life was flashing before her eyes.

_...There she was at three, bossing Shikamaru around..._

The spider was getting closer.

_...There she was helping the helpless Sakura..._

The monster was almost on top of her.

_..."What is you dream?" Hayate asked blandly. Ino blushed. "To get Sasuk-"..._

It was the orange that caught her attention; even at twilight she couldn't mistake that orange. It hurtled through the air and slammed into the spider towering over her, and, amazingly, the impact was enough to knock the monster off balance, and it toppled sideways through several trees. Landing heavily, Naruto collapsed to one knee, panting.

"Naruto!" Ino choked out, but was surprised when the blond ignored her and, instead, raised his fingers to create a small army of clones. Ino didn't see the point, but the army charged as the beast fought its way upright. "We've got to get out of here," Ino said anxiously, getting back to her feet.

"I have an idea..." Naruto said, panting heavily.

"Naruto! We're only Genins! This thing is way too strong for us!" Ino protested, staring at him incredulously. "Hayate-sensei is hurt, Shino isn't fighting and I'm not exactly that good at combat!"

"I'm going to be Hokage; I'm not going to run away!" Naruto said forcefully, turning to fix her with an intense gaze.

Ino opened her mouth to shout him down, but froze. That gaze was beyond anything she had ever seen: it was intent, it was strong and Ino wasn't sure why, but at that moment she felt as if she was seeing some hero from a story her father used to read to her. Naruto smirked as if realizing that she had given in, and Ino felt her own uncertainty being erased.

"...Lets get wild!" Naruto suddenly shouted as the last of his clone army disappeared in a puff of smoke, allowing the monster freedom of movement. Ino jumped back, watching as Naruto began hurling exploding kunai at the ground in front of the spider, herding it away from Hayate and Shino.

Ino watched for a moment, then, realizing what he was doing, sought her own hastily made exploding kunai to help him. The spider hissed, charging forward, only to retreat as the ground in front of it exploded. It was slow, and it was tedious, but Ino didn't stop. She just prayed this didn't backfire on them, but the longer they went and the closer they came to the edge of the plateau the less she doubted that would happen.

The spider staggered and weaved drunkenly, severely disoriented. It lashed out with its legs, trying desperately to stop the assault. Seconds later, they stumbled from the forest a hundred feet from the perilously dangerous edge of the plateau.

Soon, they were seventy-five feet, fifty feet, thirty, twenty, five!

Throwing her last exploding kunai, Ino paused, panting heavily. It had taken everything she had to keep up with Naruto; she just prayed it had been enough. She jerked, however, when a chorus of 'Yah's!' filled the air, and Ino found herself staring at who knew how many damn clones of Naruto who were attacking head-on.

It wouldn't be enough though, Ino could feel somewhere inside her. The spiders would recover soon, kill them both, that would be it. Ino watched in horror as the clones began to explode repeatedly, until only Naruto was left. This was it; first Naruto would die, and then her.

Naruto, however, seemed oblivious to that fact and charged in, a shout on his lips. Ino watched as the spider lashed out to smash him alongside the head, but Naruto suddenly disappeared for a full second, only to reappear and drive a kunai into the underside of the monster. The spider reared back from the blow, hissing as it went tumbling over the edge.

Ino blinked in surprise, her fear blossoming into hope!. They'd get to live!

"You did it!" Ino cheered, thrusting her hands in the air happily. Ino was so excited that she even started forward to hug the boy, but she stopped as a section of ground exploded upwards and time seemed to slow down. Ino knew what was coming before she saw it happen; one minute Naruto had been standing there grinning, and the next a spider was grabbing him by the legs and yanking him underground.

Ino suddenly collapsed, staring at the space in abject horror. Time continued to crawl for several more minutes, and then it sped back up and Ino felt her stomach drop out of her as an enormous silence settled over the area. This was the first time she had ever seen a friend die in front of her, and she absently wondered why her cheeks felt wet.

* * *

Consciousness returned to Hayate in a painful stab between his eyes, making it feel as if he'd been stabbed with a chakra-laced weapon. An acrid taste was in his mouth, and his entire body was hurting. For a moment, he lost consciousness again, then he forced his eyes open. A blinding pain shot through his head, setting off a screaming of muscles through his body until he forced the pain away.

Taking a breath, he rested for a moment, though his head ached abominably. Finally, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he realized that he had been unable to see anything during those first moments after opening his eyes. Thankfully, however, his blurred vision was sharpening to the point that he could distinguish Shino's fire-lit face.

"Hayate-sensei?" Shino said, his voice seeming to come great echoing distance.

Hayate opened his mouth, managing a croaking sound, then cleared his throat and nodded, prompting the blinding pain to return. He dominated it and sat up, knowing that it would take a few minutes for his body to block the pain yet again. Still, he needed to check on his team now, while he had the chance. Eyes sweeping the camp, he noticed Ino sitting further away from him, her eyes locked on the fire, and then noted Naruto's absence.

"What happened?" Hayate asked in a croaking voice, staring at Shino quietly.

"I'm not sure. My Kikaichu are connected to me in a certain manner and they overwhelemed my mind," Shino explained stoically. "When I had recovered, I found you unconcious and Ino crying near the edge of the plateau."

"What about Naruto?" Hayate managed, gazing at Ino with an uneasy feeling of why exactly she was crying.

"I could find him no where," Shino said before glancing at the girl. "However, she did tell me what happened. He fought, using exploding notes to herd the spider to the edge where he sent it over. She was unclear what happened after that, but I did gather that he was dead."

"I see," Hayate said covering his mouth as he coughed, which caused his head to explode in pain once more. After the pain lessened enough he began to think, wondering what to do now. Things would be a bit difficult for his team, especially when it seemed he was poisoned. There was no point denying it; without Naruto, they were nearly defenseless.

However, they couldn't just abandon the mission.

"Uhmm...we have no choice then. Tomorrow, you two will have to locate and mark the enemy on the map-"

"Are you crazy!?" Ino shouted, turning toward him unexpectedly. "Naruto's dead and your poisoned! We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Ino-san, uhm, remember the spiders and the ninja controlling them? I doubt they'll just let us go now," Hayate said before coughing once more. "We need information, and you two are best suited for gathering it. I want you to gather information; I believe that these ninja are located near or in the ruins, but I need you to confirm that. Once you have, then you are to report back to Nigoriki where I will have our backup waiting."

Ino stared at him in disbelief, but Hayate pointedly ignored her, instead focusing on Shino. "Umm...by the way, where is my sword?" Shino turned slightly and then handed over the weapon, the sheath glowing slightly in the flickering firelight. Hayate nodded his thanks, studying the weapon for a moment before he looked up at a sullen looking Ino. "Ino-san, I want you to take my sword with you and use it."

"What?!" Ino shouted, staring at him with wide eyes. "You can't be seriou-" Hayate, however, cut her off sharply.

"You are a Shinobi of Konoha; you do not have the luxury of running away!" Hayate paused and locked his gaze with hers. "This is not a pointless D-ranked mission; this mission is vital to Konoha's and the Fire Country's security! You must gather this information. If you abandon this mission and reject this responsibility, then you condemn hundreds of civilians to death and waste one of our comrades' and fellow Shinobi's sacrifice."

That said, Hayate thrust his katana out sharply, his arm and shoulder flaring in pain, but he kept his face tightly controlled. "Now do you duty."

"B-but I don't know how to use a sword," Ino said, taking the sword nervously.

Hayate coughed before giving her a reassuring smile. "I have faith in you, so I know you will complete this mission and, in some way, perhaps you can avenge your fallen teammate."

"Well that really doesn't help me use this sword," Ino snapped slightly.

Hayate was reassured at her sudden flare up, and, after a moment of consideration, he decided on his course of action. Turning his attention away from Ino, he focused on Shino, who had seemed unbothered by the lack of attention. "Uhmm...I'll transfer command for this portion of the mission to you. In the morning I'll head back to the village, and you two head toward the ruins." When Shino nodded, Hayate handed over the map, coughing again. "Make sure to rotate watches tonight..."

"Yes, but what of Ino-san? She does have a point about not being able to use the sword properly."

Hayate nodded, then looked back at her seriously. "I'll train her as best I can...umm, well, my Kage Bunshin will at least. I'm not sure how long he'll last, but he should be able to help a little." Seeing Ino's tiny nod of understanding, Hayate closed his eyes and molded his sluggish chakra to create a kage bunshin. He tried to open his eyes to check, but his body was too strained and his mind slipped away into cold unconsciousness.

Still, Hayate did not sleep well.

* * *

Ino wasn't sure what time it was; the sky was still dark, and, for all she knew, it could be the middle of the night. Still, she moved, thankful that they had enough soldier pills to keep her going. In all honesty, she wanted to be sleeping still, and if Hayate hadn't agreed to Shino's suggestion of starting now, she would have done just that. Sighing, the blonde pushed thoughts of sleep to the back of her mind, instead focusing on her remaining teammate while trying to adjust to the katana now strapped to her back.

It felt odd, awkward almost, to have that sword on her body. She preferred holding it; when it was in her hands, the sword felt like a natural extension of her body. True, she wouldn't be able to use it nearly as well as Hayate, but it still felt natural to her, and it offered some comfort. Reaching over her shoulder to touch the hilt, both for reassurance and to make sure she could reach it, Ino promised that, if she survived,she would get Hayate to train her in Kenjutsu.

Confidence bolstered, Ino removed her hand and, seeing Shino come to a stop, followed his lead, crouching beside him on the tree branch. Squinting, Ino almost swore that she could see one of his bugs escape the boy's sleeve, but it was so dark she couldn't honestly say if she had or not.

"We'll have to wait a moment until Youji-kun returns," Shino said softly, his dark silhouette not looking away from the sky.

Ino nodded, then settled back to wait paitiently. This, of course, didn't happen, and she found herself asking the one question that had been plaguing her since the attack. "So, why'd you freeze? I mean, like even I fought back." Shino was silent for several long minutes, and Ino began to worry she had insulted him, but she mentally argued that it was a legitimate question.

"...I am tied almost psychically to my family," Shino finally explained, forcing an odd tremble out of his voice. "I believe their fear is so great that it is actually forcing me into a near panicked state."

"That...is not good," Ino admitted, eyes wide.

"I agree." Shino looked at her, holding an arm out toward the forest. "However, now that I know about their reaction to the spiders, I can control my own reaction to an extent."

"Oh," Ino said, her voice soft. Well, at least she didn't have to worry too much about him freezing up so completely again.

"Youji-kun says that we should head west; he found a strange man, possibly a ninja, approaching from the east," Shino suddenly explained, his shadowy outline turning in that direction. "If I remember the map Hayate gave us correctly, the entrance to a cave is nearby. We should seek cover there until he's passed."

Ino felt her breath hitch, staring at the boy in fear. She did not want to fight anyone; even with the sword, she didn't want to even dream of fighting a ninja.

"Are you sure we can make it?" Ino asked cautiously, feeling a knot of unease in her stomach. "If we are attacked, like, we won't have much of a chance..."

"I agree," Shino said, taking off with Ino at his side. "However, I believe we can make it to the cave unnoticed. Which means we will then stand a very good chance of escaping."

Ino frowned, but remained silent, knowing what he had said was the truth, but fearing it all the same. Resisting the urge to touch the katana on her back, she instead checked her pouch to reassure herself that she had a few things to fall back on. Satisfied, she checked her other pouch, counting the soildier pills without looking. They didn't have very many; Hayate refused to let them grow reliant on them or develop an immunity to their effects.

Somewhat settled, Ino turned her mind toward other matters, namely the fight from yesterday. Out of everything that had happened during that fight, she wondered about Naruto's willingness to fling himself into the fight. While her hands had been shaking the entire time, Naruto had seemed like a man possessed. She had seen him fight before, from back in the academy, but this had been different, more fluid.

The change was almost mind-blowing, and Ino shook her head. Obviously, this 'Anko' Hayate had mentioned was a better sensei that she ever could have imagined.

"Are you ok Ino-san?" Shino suddenly asked, his dark silhouette pulling ahead slightly.

"Huh? Oh yea," Ino said blinking as she left her thoughts about the fight. "Hey Shino, what do you think this 'Anko' is like?"

Shino was silent for several long minutes as if pondering that question before he finally answered. "My father has mentioned her once." He fell silent, then continued, obviously struggling for the best words. "She is not...a pleasant woman."

"Oh," Ino managed, her mind trying to supply a mental image of such a woman. It proved futile however, thus she snorted and allowed her mind to lapse into blankness. After what felt like several hours, she finally noticed that she could make out a few minor details of Shino and the forest around her. Glancing at the sky, she felt mildly relieved at the black sky brightening to an indigo shade.

She was so enraptured with this change in scenery that she missed Shino throwing his arm out until she ran into it. She started to shout at him--his hand had came in contact with a certain part of her body--but then saw that they were suddenly facing a very large spider web.

"I thought you said the caves were this way," Ino hissed glaring at him.

"They are," Shino said calmly, or at least he tried to sound calm. Ino thought she could detect the slightest tremor in his voice. "We need to go around and then continue on." That said, Shino took off at a new angle, with Ino hot on his heels.

Ino, however, felt a ripple of fear race along her spine, the knowledge that Shino could at any moment freeze completely offering her no comfort. Forcefully, she stopped thinking about that and instead concentrated on keeping pace with the boy, wondering what they would do even if they did get the information needed and were caught as they attempted to escape.

The obvious answer filled her with dread, however: since she was the least skilled at combat, she would have to escape and leave Shino behind. In essence, she would have to run away, desert her friend to save her life and the information. Until that moment, Ino had never seriously entertained such thoughts, even though Hayate had _told_ them they would face such a decision some day.

Maybe she was over reacting., Maybe he wouldn't freeze up, and they could both make it back to Konoha safely.

"If we are forced into combat, then one of us will have to escape while the other provides cover," Shino suddenly said. "If this happens, then you should attempt to escape; I would stand a better chance in a fight than you would."

"You want me to run away?" Ino asked, staring at him in surprise, wondering if he was able to read her mind.

"It is often best to plan for all possible outcomes," Shino explained blandly. "We have three likely outcomes. First, we reach the caves, avoid the pursuing ninja, manage to gather the needed information and escape successfully. Second, we fail to reach the caves and are, thus, killed. Third and most likely, we reach the cave, thus avoiding our pursuer, then manage to gather the needed information before one of us is caught and the other escapes."

Ino opened her mouth to respond when she felt something thin brush against her shin before snapping. Coming to a halt, she turned in surprise, staring at where her leg had just passed through, wondering what she had just snapped in half.

"What is it?" Shino asked, suddenly joining her on the branch she was on.

"Like, I thought I felt something..." Ino said, shrugging as she glanced at the boy.

Shino's attention, however, was focused on something behind her, something which prompted him to grab her hand and yank as he took off. "Run!"

"H-hey!" Ino shouted, then glanced behind her to see what had terrified the boy. What she saw made her feel like they weren't moving fast enough. Springing from branch to branch were a dozen large, gray spiders chasing them, their bodies growing clearer in the gloom as they closed the distance.

Ino focused her attention forward once more and started pouring on the speed, almost dragging Shino behind her. "What are we going to do?" Ino panted, her lungs burning already. Damn it! From now on she was going to train more than fuss with her hair!

Of course, that was IF she lived long enough to train.

Glancing at her partner, Ino shuddered, not even wanting to know what it would be like be running through a forest with a swarm of sheer panic clawing at your mind. The boy, however, continued to move and function as if unbothered by his bugs' feelings.

"We run faster and head directly for a cave entrance," Shino finally responded as they both redoubled their efforts to escape the gaining spiders. Minutes later, dodging blasts of webbing, they exploded from the forest into a massive, circular plain where a series of rocks jutted out of the earth like teeth.

"H-How much further..." Ino panted heavily, forcing herself to continue running along side Shino.

"It is just ahead," the dark haired boy answered, turning to look behind him as a series of explosions filled the forest. "I wonder if that will stop them or..."

His question was answered as several spiders came hurtling out of the forest, some smoking, but most looking untouched.

Ino, who had taken the moment to catch her breath, darted forward, heading for the cave mouth. For one blind moment, she realized that she had left Shino behind and even started to go back when he caught up with her easily. Focusing once more on the shelter ahead, she began to wonder if they would ever reach it; no matter how much they ran, it didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Panic started to build as her ribs began to throb from the exertion. She was past the point of ignoring the pain: it was now a white-hot pain in her side. Ino was too tired even to curse about how pathetic she was,. All that mattered was that she stopped long enough to recover. Shaking her head, Ino dug deep, but her body was so tired, she just wanted to sleep.

Did it really matter if they were killed by giant spiders? All that did matter was resting, stopping the burning in her lungs, her legs from aching and her ribs from throbbing. Then, suddenly, she tripped, stumbled and fell, skidding into the loose gravel of the cave mouth.

Seconds later, the rough surface of loose rocks dug into her hands as Shino followed her. She wasn't allowed to rest for long, as he grabbed her arm and helped her up, hurrying deeper into the cave while turning to throw a kunai at the entrance. Seconds later, there was a loud explosion and the sound of great chunks of rock thundering to the floor.

It took her a few minutes of breathing the stale air before she realized that they had made it to the cave, and that Shino had sealed him inside. It took several more minutes for her lungs to stop burning, and she finally noticed that any trace of daylight was now hidden from view completely.

Ino had a bad feeling about this.


	11. Chapter 10: The Awakening

Altered History  
Chapter 10:  
-The Awakening-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

The first thing that Shino noticed about the cave system they found themselves in, after the absolute darkness that engulfed them, was the foul stench. He wasn't what the cause for the stench was; all he knew was that it was inciting his Kikaichu family to even greater levels of panic. Their sheer combined instincts were almost overwhelming him, despite his attempts at blocking such feelings. 

Shino was so lost in thought that the sudden snapping sound that filled the air made him jerk. Seconds later, his eyes stung as a faint glow filled the air.

"That's better."

Turning his head, he found Ino holding a glowstick, looking as if she didn't know wheither to be angry or relieved. Putting her aside for the moment, Shino turned his attention back to the cave. The walls appeared normal, and there were a few miniature stalactites and stalagmites. It appeared normal enough, but he saw no immediate exit, which prompted him to regain his feet and begin moving about, searching.

The light of the glowstick only extended so far, but he was reasonably sure that he could find his way out. It would be risk to move too far away from Ino, which meant the best option would be to coax his Kikaichu out. This proved impossible,; the raw panic they felt overrode any commands he attempted, which meant he was in no better shape than Ino. He amended that though quickly, remembering that she, at least, had a sword.

Without his family, there wasn't much he could do. Just keeping the thousands of voices blocked off enough to allow him to function was giving him an intense headache and making it hard to think.

"Like, what now?"

Shino remained silent for several long minutes and then turned back to face the girl. That was, indeed, a very good question. "Obviously, we begin to search for a way out...Since our original entrance is now blocked from us."

"But, are we even sure there is another exit?" Ino asked, climbing to her feet, holding the glow stick high. "I mean, like, aren't caves isolated?"

"No," Shino answered, frowning, though she couldn't see that. In all honesty, he knew very little about caves, but what he did know was that they honestly didn't have many options. He was more than willing to concede that entering the cave was not a good idea.

"Oh," Ino responded, before her jaw tightened. "Then what are you standing there for?"

"I was merely waiting for you," Shino responded, arching an eyebrow before turning back to the cave and the problem set before them. Shaking his head, Shino moved forward, pleased to see the light following him which illuminated the far wall, where he discovered a narrow gap in the rock.

"Is that the way out?" Ino asked anxiously from behind him, hovering just behind his shoulder.

"I am not sure," Shino answered, already thinking of how best to find out. If his family had been willing, he would have sent one of them, but they weren't, so he had to think of some other way to find out. Lowering his gaze, he spotted a rock just the right size and something clicked in his head. Stooping, he selected the rock and then tossed it, listening intently.

If the passage was a dead end, then it would hit the wall, but if it wasn't...seconds later the sound of a rock clattering to the earth reached them.

"Well?" Ino prompted impatiently.

Shino remained silent, considering the various odds as best he could and then nodded reluctantly. "We have no other choice." That said, he turned sideways and squeezed into the gap, followed seconds later by a grumbling Ino. It was a strange sensation for Shino; he felt like was constantly in danger of being crushed, always in danger of his own panic adding to the panic of his Kikaichu.

He also noticed the gap was beginning to slope downward. It was slight, but it was definitely there. Down, down and down it went, until, finally, it widened to a full-sized tunnel that allowed Shino and Ino to walk side-by-side. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the tunnel forked, and they were forced to stop.

"Ok, so now what?" Ino muttered staring between the two separate tunnels before glaring at him. "Well?"

"Without exploring both tunnels, I can not say for certain," Shino answered, studying both intently.

"Well why not just whip out those bugs of yours up and get them to look?" Ino snapped.

"...I can't," Shino responded calmly, moving towards each tunnel, attempting to find the correct path. "They are too caught up in their sheer panic. It is all I can do to keep their fear and panic from swamping myself."

"Damn it," Ino muttered, shooting him a nasty glare before pointing randomly at the tunnel on the left. "Then we should go that way, if you can't figure things out."

Shino paused and then raised an eyebrow curiously. "Why that tunnel?"

Ino snorting pushed past him, leading the way. "Your hair. It's moving to the right...So, that means a breeze has to be coming from the left."

"Which denotes air," Shino supplied, following behind her, nodding to himself. Maybe he didn't have to worry so much.

* * *

Ino wasn't sure how long they had been down there--hours, maybe--but what she did know was that she hated it. She had several reasons to hate it, too: first, she had a mild case of claustrophobia; then, of course, there was the fact that they were beginning to run out of glow sticks and solider pills; added to this was the unknown stench that was filling the tunnels; and, perhaps most importantly, the discovery of cocooned forms glued to the walls. 

Every time she thought about that, Ino shivered her, imagination trying to relay what it would feel like to be so helpless and dying slowly. To know at first what was happening, to feel something drinking your fluids before you heart and lungs finally gave out. To make matters worse, Ino's imagination kept picturing Naruto going through the same thing, which was enough to sicken her completely.

Glancing at Shino, Ino studied him intently, wondering how he was holding up. After they had discovered those cocooned bodies, it had taken a firm shove from Ino to get him moving again. It was almost like the longer they were in the tunnels, the worse the panic became for him--not that she could tell from his expressions or body language.

If she wasn't sharp and careful, Shino would freeze and get them killed, and, not for the first time, Ino wished that it had been Shino that had died and not Naruto. She had seen how he reacted to these things; Naruto hadn't been intimidated at all, and, best of all, he would talk to her to keep the silence from overwhelming them.

Shaking her head, Ino shifted her attention away from Shino to study the pale light as it danced along the wall. The silence and feeling of dread were slowly growing until it was so thick that Ino actually began to think that this was some kind of hell. Maybe it was a punishment for her misdeeds or a wasted life. It was enough that it made her want to scream.

Just as her mouth opened, and she prepared to do just that, they reached the tunnel and entered into a circular chamber where a dozen or more intersecting tunnels waited. Ino cursed under her breath, staring at each one and then wondered which one they should take. Hell, how could she know? They weren't even able to use any of Shino's bugs to search the tunnels.

Turning, she started to question the boy, only to find him glaring at something, his shoulder tense. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn he was in an argument with someone, but there was no one around to argue _with_. Had he finally snapped and was now plotting her death? Then, suddenly, his body relaxed, and he turned his head to watch _something_ move away and down one of the tunnels.

"Er...Shino, you okay?" Ino asked hesitantly, resisting the urge to pull her sword in case he turned on her.

"I'm fine."

"Well, like, it looked like you were arguing with someone."

"I was." Shino turned to stare at her from behind those sunglasses, which she found creepy and weird. "I had to _'shout' _at my family, but Chichi-chan agreed to check the tunnels for us."

"You mean...You got one of your bugs to go look?" Ino said blinking. "Like, aren't they terrified or something?"

"Yes. Which is why I could only get one of them to do this for me," Shino said before crouching down. "It will take a while; there are twelve tunnels and only one of her."

Ino shifted her weight uneasily, knowing that she had no choice but to wait and see what happened. Turning her mind away from the wait, Ino attempted to muse about Sasuke. This, however, seemed pointless. Did it really matter what he was doing while she was trapped in these tunnels among deadly spiders with an almost useless teammate? Ino knew the answer, but she thought about him anyway: it kept her busy.

When Chichi returned, Ino stirred long enough to ask if it was time to move, then, receiving a negative answer, she returned to thinking about the dark-haired boy that she had been crushing on since the first time she saw him. Ino honestly wasn't sure what it was--that silence or his aloofness? Maybe it was his looks or those dark eyes. She was still trying to figure out the source of her crush a few minutes later when an odd sound reached her.

It echoed in the small section of tunnels. It was startling, and it was horrible. A venomous hiss, followed by the sound of something large moving through the tunnel they had just came out of. Glancing briefly at a suddenly on-guard Shino, Ino gulped and then turned her attention back to the tunnel, waiting for whatever was following them. Almost absently, Ino reached over her shoulder and pulled her sword, hissing from its sheath.

Grasping it like the Hayate Bunshin had trained her, Ino assumed the best stance she could, preparing to use the weapon. The sounds were getting closer, and Ino strained to see past the glowstick's light, but could see nothing but darkness. The sounds suddenly faded, and Ino tensed, uncertain of what to do.

"Ino-san, Chichi-chan says she found a tunnel that leads to something important."

Ino hesitated, unwilling even to look away from the tunnel behind them. Shifting her weight and grip, she responded with an urgency she didn't bother hiding. "Is it a way out?"

"She is not saying; however, it is a possibility," Shino admitted.

Ino set her jaw anxiously before she nodded and turned, heading for the tunnel Shino indicated. It was narrower than any of the other tunnels she had been in, so narrow that it was actually amazing she could still breathe. Not that breathing was a pleasant task; the air was stagnant and even richer with the mysterious stench. It was only through sheer force of will that she kept moving and kept Shino moving with her.

It took several minutes--or was it hours--for Ino to realize that the tunnel was beginning to slope upwards. She just prayed it kept doing so. Up meant they were approaching the surface and, possibly, another exit. She was banking on that. She had only two soldier pills left, and she didn't want to have to use them before they escaped. Then, just as the glow stick faded out, she stumbled out of the tunnel, and crashed painfully into something solid.

"Damn it!" Ino hissed, then paused, listening to her voice echo. Blinking, she quickly fumbled through her hip pouch and grasped her last glow stick. Snapping the plastic tube, she shook the contents, replacing the darkness with a dim light that vaguely hinted at how vast the cavern she was standing in was.

Turning her attention back to what she had smashed into, she discovered a column of rock. Cursing to herself, she turned away to see what her teammate was doing. Shino, amazingly enough, had lit his own glow stick and was busy moving through the cavern as if searching for something.

"Hey, like, you shouldn't be wasting that," Ino hissed, moving over to join him, thus increasing his light. The boy ignored her, and she had opened her mouth to say something else when she noticed Shino kneeling besides an oblong white shape. "Is that what I think it is?" Ino asked, disgust leaking into her voice.

"This one seems dead," Shino said after a moment and then he turned his head, staring at something else that their combined glow-sticks only barely revealed. "...So that is what she found."

"What?" Ino asked, looking in the same direction, but only saw the edge of another cocoon. Shino, however, seemed to be ignoring her once more as he hurried over to it, kneeling yet again.

"Chichi-chan said that the tunnel led to something important," Shino explained as he studied the object intently. "I believe I have found what she meant."

"What the hell are you-" Ino paused, however, watching with wide eyes as Shino sliced through t he white material with a kunai to reveal Naruto's face. He looked pale; his lips were even turning blue. Shaking herself out of the shock she felt, Ino leveled a glare at Shino, wondering why the boy had wanted to find Naruto's body; it wasn't as if they could carry it out of there. Then, Ino blanched when Shino reached out to touch the boy's flesh. "What the hell is wrong with you? You shouldn't be touching a dead body!"

"He isn't dead," Shino responded calmly, hand moving to the blond's throat. "Chichi-chan says that she smelt his chakra, and chakra can't exist in a dead body."

"H-he's...alive?" Ino blinked, suddenly kneeling besides Shino. Her mind was reeling at this development. She would have sworn that he was dead; after all, that spider had dragged him underground.

"Yes. Barely, but he is alive," Shino answered, using his kunai to slice at the rest of the webbing as he continued talking. "Obviously, he has been poisoned. I think, however, that he was captured."

"Captured?"

Shino nodded, setting back slightly. "Yes. The ninja controlling these spiders obviously wanted to understand his enemies better. So, the spiders captured Naruto, poisoning him so that they didn't have to keep a constant eye on him."

"So that means they'll be back," Ino guessed, glaring at Shino. "What now? We can't like, drag him around with us..."

"I know," was all the boy said.

"Well?!" Ino suddenly snapped, her temper rising with each minute the boy was silent. It wasn't that she didn't like knowing Naruto was alive, or even that she didn't want to take him with her, but right now she was staring at the risk of loosing her own life.

"I could see if my Kikaichu would be willing to draw the poison out of him," Shino finally suggested, a note of uncertainty in his voice. "I am not sure how that would work, however. My father explained the basics only once..."

"Well, like we can't just leave him here now," Ino said, a hint of her exhaustion finding its way into her voice. That scared her; she was going to collapse soon, and those soldier pills were only going to make it worse.

"I know," Shino said after a moment, which was followed by a more pronounced silence before he released his own breath. "My Kikaichu are no longer listening to me. I can not even shout them down so that they can hear my voice."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Ino snapped, glaring at Shino and then looking at Naruto. She was trying to think of anything to fix this mess; nothing was coming to mind, however. All they had were three soldier pills, her sword and whatever other small weapons they still had.

"Ino-san, can you bring your light closer please?" Shino suddenly asked and Ino, grumbling, did as asked, glaring at the boy. Shino merely focused on Naruto for several minutes and then leaned back, as if deep in thought about something. Ino ignored the gray-clad boy and turned her attention back to Naruto, surprised at what she found.

His skin appeared to be regaining its color, and his lips were no longer blue. "Is...is the poison wearing off?"

"It would appear so," Shino said softly.

Ino remained silent, staring at the boy and then, remembering where she was, she glanced around anxiously. They needed to move; there was no telling when those spiders would come to repoison the blond. Still, it was rather obvious that Shino wasn't about to leave the boy, so Ino left her glow stick next to him and retreated ever so slightly to keep an eye out for spiders.

It felt like she stood there for hours, waiting for an attack that would never come. As a matter of fact, she was so intent on this imaginary attack that, when Shino told her that Naruto was coming around, she yelped and jumped. Recovering, Ino quickly moved to stare down at the blond, watching as Naruto's face twitched and shuddered.

Finally, his eyes opened half-way, and he stared up at them for several minutes in silence. Unnerved, Ino shifted her weight and froze, noticing the way his eyes flickered toward her. The look on his face was perplexed, almost as if he wasn't sure if he was awake or not.

"Am I... in heaven?" Naruto finally managed to croak, his eyes never leaving her face.

"No," Shino answered, stoic as ever.

"Is this hell?" Naruto asked after a moment, continuing to stare at her, making Ino very self-conscious.

"Not quite..." Shino answered, leaning back slightly.

"Oh," Naruto whispered before nodding, his gaze finally leaving Ino to settle, instead, on Shino. "Then tell the pretty kami to go away, please." That said, the blond promptly passed out.

"...That was odd," Shino said after a moment, his tone obviously confused.

Ino nodded in silent agreement, but she felt herself blushing with the knowledge that he had been referring to her.

* * *

Shino had never considered how troublesome carrying Naruto would be. After all, the boy had to weigh less then he; however, that did nothing to change the dead-weight factor. The reason he was carrying the boy was really quite simple: any time they stopped for a short break--at Ino's insistence--the blond would fall asleep, only to complain loudly when they woke him up. To make matters worse, Naruto was constantly wandering off in a daze. 

After a while, both Shino and Ino agreed that he should be carried so that he could sleep off whatever poison was still affecting him. It had been Shino's idea, really, and for some reason Ino declared that meant that Shino had to carry him. Since Shino was not about to leave Naruto behind, he honestly didn't have much in the way of choices.

However, the worst part to Shino was the utter silence in his head. His family had apparently gone so far over the bend that they had cut themselves off from him. Of course, while this could have been good news since he didn't have to constantly concentrate on blocking their panic, Shino still couldn't concentrate. He was _used_ to the presence of his family, and, without it, he was constantly distracted and unsteady on his feet.

"So OK, I'm like, you know, starting to wonder about these tunnels," Ino said, speaking for the first time since they had decided which tunnel to take a half hour ago.

"Wonder what?" Shino asked distractedly, wondering if it was just him or if the light of his glow stick was growing brighter.

"Duh!" Ino snorted, glancing over her shoulder. "We have to have been down here, like, a totally long time, right? I'm starting to wonder if they actually lead to a way out or not."

"We are going up," Shino explained patiently. "It is only a matter of time before we find a way out."

"I'm sure," Ino muttered turning away to continue her silent trek along the tunnel.

Shino shrugged her comment off, studying the glow stick intently. The light was definitely getting brighter, but there was no wind. That was strange to say the least. Even in the tunnels there was the occasional breeze; if there was light, there should have definitely been one. Which meant they were approaching another cavern, one that had a light source.

"Like, is it me or is the tunnel getting brighter?" Ino suddenly asked, but Shino merely shrugged Naruto off his shoulders and hurried past her. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Yes. It is indeed growing brighter," Shino said over his shoulder and then pushed her to the back of his mind as he crept forward. Maybe it was just the lack of his family, or maybe he was just anxious, but Shino couldn't trust this tunnel so blindly. Reaching the end of the tunnel, he froze, staring out over a vast cavern from ten feet above the floor.

Even with his sunglasses, Shino winced, not because the torches were bright, but because he had grown so used to the glow-sticks. As his eyes adjusted, he saw large dark blobs; eventually, they became vague shapes and, finally, he could make out minor details.

It took him a moment to realize that what he was staring at were roughly a dozen spiders, moving around in the cavern, talking in an odd language. Or, at least, he thought it was a cavern until he turned his attention to the smooth walls where flickering torches resided and the equally smooth floor, which revealed that it was a man made chamber. Frowning, he turned his attention once more to the spiders and finally allowing them to settle on a tall, hooded figure standing near an opening where a set of rough hewn stairs seemed to reside.

Shino could see nothing of the man's face, nor any marks that revealed what village this man was from. Not that it mattered since, obviously, this man had to be the ninja controlling the spiders. Looking around once more for anything he missed, he paused, noticing a familiar figure kneeling between two spiders. Frowning, Shino carefully retreated back the way he came, and, thankfully, he didn't have to go far before he ran into Ino once more.

The giril was grumbling, almost bowed beneath the weight of the unconscious Naruto. Seeing the way her eyes narrowed in accusation, he held a hand up, speaking quickly before she could. "I believe the way out is ahead, but I am not certain. Could you use your clan's ability?"

"Huh?" Ino blinked, her anger temporarily forgotten as she eased Naruto off her shoulders. "Well, I could, but, like...You know I'm not psychic, right? I mean, I'd have to have somebody's head to peek into, and...I'm not sure I can try that on a spider."

Shino nodded, reaching out to help her. "I understand. Joji-san has been captured, so perhaps he would make the ideal target."

"Shouldn't we, iunno, try to rescue him?" Ino asked, glancing at him curiously.

Shino, however, shook his head, knowing the truth more easily than she did. "Even if Naruto were healthy, we would be unable to rescue him. However, if we can escape before he is murdered, we may be able to contact someone who can."

"But to do that, I have to peek into his head," Ino said sourly before straightening up to head toward the entrance. "Oh, and Shino?" Pausing, the girl turned back, a frighteningly sweet smile on her face. "If you ever make me carry him again, I'm going to get the biggest damn can of insecticide I can find." That said, the girl turned and started walking.

Unnerved slightly, Shino remained where he was, unsure if he should stay with Naruto or join Ino in case she needed help. If his family had still been talking, it wouldn't have taken him longer than few seconds to decide, but, since they weren't, it took him several minutes before he finally hurried after Ino.

He had just caught up to her, and was preparing to say something when he saw something that would have sent every bug in his body into a horrified stupor if they weren't already there. It was a spider, or at least the lower portion of it was a spider. It had eight massive legs and a body of gray; the way it move denoted advanced age. But what truly terrified him was the rest of the spider, which, from the waist up, was a old woman's body, and it looked every inch like the ideal grandmother.

Her voice was soft, unclear, but it was obvious that she was speaking to the ninja who spoke for her. "Reidou-sama bids you welcome, Joji-san. It has been centuries since the last Minmoto entered this hallowed den."

Joji struggled at that, and the mysterious ninja's tone became slightly mocking. "What? Has Minmoto-Yakanatama-no-Joji, the last surviving member of the Minmoto Clan, lost his manners?" The other spiders made clicking sounds, as if laughing, but the mysterious ninja was quiet, listening to Reidou as she spoke once more. Nodding, the man reached out and ripped something, probably a gag Shino guessed, from Joji's mouth.

This act was followed by the headman's loud, indignant voice. "How dare you! I am Mimoto! You have no right to drag me here and treat me like some sort of animal!"

Reidou obviously said something which the mysterious ninja nodded in agreement with. "Reidou-sama says 'You are from the clan that betrayed us. Your clan summoned us to the world, in this foul shape, to build their power and then, when fear grew, your clan attempted to seal us away. We have waited centuries and then you freed us. For that, we would thank you-'"

"Thank me?!" Joji interrupted furiously. "She had me dragged out of my house in the middle of the night and gagged with webbing to thank me!?"

"...Do not interrupt Reidou-sama," the mysterious ninja said threateningly. "She has suffered your continued life only because of the service you performed in freeing her."

"Well then, what the hell does she want!?"

The mysterious ninja raised a hand, palm up, speaking calmly as ever. "As I was saying, for freeing her she would thank you. For allowing her to feed so that she could bring forth her children once more, she would thank you. However, you have brought 'ninja' into our world, and this has caused the deaths of her children.'"

"That wasn't my fault!" Joji shouted angrily. "How was I supposed to know that stupid Jonin would have those masked men following him?!"

"Regardless," the mysterious ninja said, waving a hand dismissively. "It is still your responsibility and, as such, you must restore to her the chi she had lost with the death of those children."

"What?!" Joji shouted before suddenly going slack in the grasp of the spiders holding him.

Shino blinked, wondering if the man had died, then, remembering Ino, he glanced over at her. Her body was stretched out as if she had lain down to take a nap, and he wondered about that for a split second before he realized what she had done. Mastering his body, he scooped her up and quietly slipped back into the tunnel.

It would be safer, and besides, his family's silence was starting to chew at his mind. As a matter of fact, he nearly forgot what he was doing several times on the trip back to where Naruto was resting. He did make it, though, and, setting Ino down gently, Shino paused wondering what to do now. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate; he just prayed it wouldn't get them all killed.

Shaking his head, he settled down to wait, only to jerk at the sound of a shrieking wail that echoed from the end of the tunnel. Realizing that had to be Joji, he quickly turned to face Ino, worried that she might have not made it out of the body in time. This proved a needless worry as her eyelids fluttered opened, her face twisting into a grimace.

"Are you ok?"

Ino met his gaze. It was unsettling to say the least, but she quickly looked away, her voice trembling. "You were right, that opening is an exit."

"Is it guarded?" Shino asked after a moment. "By more than just the ninja and spiders we saw?"

"Yes," Ino grated out. "Five spiders."

"I see," Shino replied before falling silent. He struggled with the various questions that were now facing him: spiders that actually were demons, an exit that was heavily guarded, a mysterious ninja.

"So, now what?" Ino finally asked, and Shino looked up, seeing the way she kept her face set in a scowl.

"Obviously, we have to slip past those spiders and that ninja down there. Possibly, if we could defeat the ninja, then we would have an easier time."

"Right, but, like, how do we do that, exactly? You know, since he's not really in control of those...things."

"I...don't know," Shino admitted, his voice growing slightly brittle. "My Kikaichu are not...talking. Without them, I can't concentrate...I doubt I can fight in this condition."

"Well then, what are we supposed to do?" Ino demanded heatedly. "I can't fight those damn things, even with this sword!"

Shino nodded, an idea tugging at the edges of his mind. He lowered his head, trying to bring it into focus, which took several long minutes and then he realized what he had been trying to think of. "Remember what Hayate-sensei told us before we left Konoha? Each of us has a strength. Mine was strategy."

"...Okay, but that still doesn't tell me how-"

"The how, Ino-san, would be tactics," Shino said before glancing at Naruto. "He is our tactician, so he will have to tell us how best to carry out my strategy of slipping out unnoticed."

"But he's unconscious!" Ino hissed. "Plus, even when Naruto-kun is awake he's useless!"

"True," Shino allowed raising an eyebrow, noting the way she had referred to him.

Ino was silent for several long minutes and then sighed, turning to the blond in question. "We don't have a choice, do we?"

"No."

"Fine," Ino grumbled and then, hauling back, she slapped him upside the head with enough power to knock the blond over with a thump. "Free Ramen!"

"Ouch!"

* * *

Naruto rubbed at his head, muttering curses under his breath. It was bad enough that she had smacked him, but the biggest crime was that she had taunted him with free ramen. Lowering his hand, he blinked, wondering if Ino ever needed to breathe, mainly because she was still talking and wasn't showing any signs of stopping. 

Keeping his silence, Naruto wondered if, maybe, he could go back to sleep without her noticing. No, that would only get her to hit him again.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Ino suddenly hissed, startling him.

"Yea, yea..." Naruto said, knowing the next question and wondering what exactly she had been saying.

"Then what did I just say?"

"Er...something about spiders, us being trapped," Naruto answered, racking his mind for more information. Lacking exact details, he gave her a hopeful smile. "Oh, and something about an old lady and a ninja!"

"...for sweet-" Ino grumbled before jabbing a finger into his chest. "Listen, okay? We are in a spiders den, miles under ground, nearly out of weapons, and the Mother of all Spiders is blocking the way. Shino says that we have to beat that ninja if we ever want to escape, and of course he can't fight due to his connection to those bugs of his."

Naruto blinked, staring at her and then shrugged. "Ok, and what do you want me to do?"

"Figure out how we're supposed to beat that ninja and escape, duh!" Ino hissed dangerously.

Naruto blinked, staring at her. For a moment there, she had sounded like a snake, which was funny because he hadn't heard too many of them. Then, seeing the way she was glaring at him, he scratched the side of his head, unable to fully grasp why they needed him for this.

"Well?!" Ino hissed once more after several minutes.

"I'm thinking, okay?" Naruto snapped back and then, while Ino mumbled, he focused on what she had told him. Okay, so they were trapped by giant spiders and a ninja. So what did he remember about Kumo-iki? Frowning, Naruto tried to remember all the stories he had ever heard when he had still been living in an orphanage.

Were they the ones that ate corpses? No, those were the jikiniki. Well what about...no those were the Yara-ma-yha-who. Were they the ones that liked to live in mountains and hunt children? No, those were the Ten-gu!

"Augh!" Naruto suddenly said, clutching at the sides of his head. Why couldn't he remember the stories about the Kumo-iki?! This meant he had bugged those bastards in the orphanage to tell him all those stories for nothing! If he couldn't remember how to beat the damned things, then what was he going to do?

Then he remembered something Anko had told him back when they had first started training: 'You think outside of the box. Keep it up!' That seemed to jumpstart his prankster streak, and suddenly he was creating a half-dozen ideas.

"Naruto-san, please hurry up," Shino said evenly.

Gathering his strength, he used his hands to get to his knees and pushed, lifting himself upright, before he looked at both Shino and Ino, grinning. "I have...an idea."

"Great," Ino grumbled, climbing to her feet, as well. "So, are you going to tell us?"

"It's a surprise," Naruto said, grinning just a little bit larger.

"Kami, please don't tell me your brilliant plan is counting to three," Ino muttered.

"Hey! Just trust me, okay?" Naruto demanded, his grin fading as he fixed his gaze on her.

"Fine..." Ino grumbled. "Just try not to get us killed; there's a sale in Konoha I want to go to."

Grinning once more, Naruto held up a scroll.

* * *

Ino eyed the scroll she was holding suspiciously, then glanced at Naruto, who was busy creating a small group of kage bunshin closer to the entrance. What the hell did he have going on in that twisted little mind of his? She couldn't even guess; a 'What you see is what you get scroll' and an army of kage bunshin just didn't add up to a good idea that she could see. 

Shaking her head, she studied the scroll once more, wondering what the scroll would do. Then, she looked over at Shino, who was standing close by, looking slightly lost. That was another thing that was preying on her mind: could he really function well enough to stay with her? Yet, no matter how many times she asked Naruto, he would never tell her his plan; all he ever told her was to open the scroll and head for the exit when it was time.

Time for what? Ino wondered before sighing. She would just have to leave it to Naruto. After all, unclear or not, it was the only chance they had. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and then opened them, watching as Naruto finished talking with his clones before hurrying down the tunnel to her.

"You ready?" He was grinning again, half-prankster and half-cocky. Ino wondered how he could manage that, since she felt completely overwhelmed.

"Naruto-san, you do have a plan right?" Shino asked carefully.

"Yup." Naruto nodded seriously before glancing at the clones and then back at them, his grin growing. "Trying to not get us killed."

Ino stared at him and then groaned. Naruto took this as a sign that she was ready and turned, rushing to his clones. "Let's kick some ass!" Then, all the clones let out a roar and turned, charging to the end of the tunnel where they suddenly jumped, firing off kunai that exploded.

Ino blinked, listened to the sound of chaos and then grabbed Shino's hand and took off running, as well dropping to the floor. She took a moment to study the cavern, taking in the chaos raging all around them and the various chunks of rock that were falling. So this was his plan?

"Ino-san... Maybe we should open the scroll now," Shino said softly.

Blinking, Ino did just that, surprised at the slight shimmering of the air around them then even more surprised as a spider that rushed past her completely ignored them. Turning, she opened her mouth to say something to Shino, only to freeze, finding herself facing a spider. Her brief moment of panic was quickly replaced by the realization that Naruto had used the scroll to henge them both into spiders!

Suddenly, Ino understood what Naruto was doing. In all of this chaos and destruction, none of the spiders would notice two extra spiders. Which meant the ninja wouldn't notice, meaning they could escape unnoticed! It was brilliant.

A sudden nearby explosion jolted her back to what was going on, and she took off, trying to act as much like a panicking spider as possible. It was hard to keep the other spiders from crashing into her and the kage bunshin from attacking her, plus she kept checking on Shino to make sure he was following her.

Thankfully, Shino seemed to be holding up well enough, or at least his henge hadn't crumbled and he was keeping pace with her. Still, it seemed to take forever to get near that exit, mostly due to chunks of the ceiling falling all around them, but they were getting there.

Slowing suddenly, Ino dodged a spider hurrying in front of her, which allowed Shino to pull ahead. Hurrying to catch up, Ino prayed that nothing happened to put them in real jeopardy. That was when she was forced to stop once more as Shino collided with another spider.

Ino glanced at the exit; it would be so easy to just keep going and leave him, but could she do that? Cursing, she allowed her own henge to crumble and rushed forward, grasping Shino and yanking him up as the spider he had crashed into was rushing at them. Ino felt a tremor of fear race through her and then something else took over, prompting her to perform three unexpected feats.

First, she channeled chakra into her legs for a boost as she jumped, pulling Shino with her; second, Ino twisted in the air until she was vertical and unsheathed the sword while channeling chakra into it so that the blade sliced through the monster like it was butter.

Then, to complete the amazing feat, she landed adroitly with a now-recovered Shino. Ino paused for a split second, staring at the sword in awe and then took off as Shino yanked on her hand. The rough hewn stairs of the tunnel rose steeply, and with every stride they climbed higher along the torch-lit stairway. Ino didn't even want to think about who had created them; all that mattered was that none of those spiders were chasing them.

"Maybe you're not such an idiot after all," Ino said to Naruto, glancing behind her only to find the blond nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the one flaw she had never noticed in the plan hit her! Where was he? He should have been right behind them, or at least a few minutes, but she didn't feel like he was.

Then, she heard what sounded like someone rushing up at them. So the idiot had fallen further behind than expected! "Naruto, are you, like, a-" She was cut off, however, as the sound grew closer and suddenly revealed a large spider, its fangs gleaming in the torch light.

It was an instinct that did it, or, at least Ino thought it was instinct. One moment her sword had been at her side, and the next it was plunging through the monster's head. It let out an almost deafening screech and tumbled backwards into the darkness.

Ino stood transfixed for a moment, staring after it, then looked at the sword. She was broken out of her surprise when Shino jerked on her arm, dragging her further up the stairs. "We need to keep moving."

"What about Naru-" Ino started to protest only to have Shino cut her off.

"I do not know. But, he is stronger than either of us; maybe he is trying to buy us time."

Ino didn't believe that, but kept her peace, feeling like a coward the entire time. He wouldn't have left either of them behind, but, then again, he had told them to flee, and maybe Shino was right. Maybe he was right behind them, but he was just taking his time to let them escape first.

Those thoughts didn't stay for long since her body was starting to finally completely rebel against her. This was the onset of chakra exhaustion. Iruka had explained it to them often enough, and it was only because of Shino that she was even still moving. Her vision was beginning to darken, her air coming in harsh rasps...her mind starting to slip.

Then, suddenly, she collapsed, making a soft 'oomph' sound. It took her a moment to realize that she was lying on soft grass and could feel a cool breeze washing over her. They had made it? Yes! She tried to get up, but her body refused, and her lungs felt like they were filled with water.

Eyes fluttering, she drifted on the edge of unconsciousness for what felt like an eternity before she felt energy flooding through her once more. After several minutes, she coughed and opened her eyes to stare up at the person kneeling over her.

He was dressed in armor, a sword jutting out over his shoulder, and a white animal mask covering his face. Ino allowed her eyes to dart from that mask to his outfit before spotting the emblazoned Konoha symbol on his armor. "W-who are you?"

"ANBU. A Protector of Konoha and Fire Country," the man said, his hands still glowing faintly. "You are lucky that Hayate-senpai found my team."

"I...why...how?" Ino stuttered, watching as the man turned to face someone else before looking back at her.

"That is not important right now. Right now, I need to know what, exactly, happened."

"What about Hayate-sensei?" Ino asked thickly, her thoughts jumbling now.

"He is fine. The village has been secured and he's resting well," the man answered her calmly. "Now, tell me what happened."

Ino coughed, head swimming, and she began to tell him everything she could remember: the mission, the time spent underground and then, finally, what she had overheard when she was searching Joji's mind. Falling silent, she stared up at him, feeling as if she was forgetting something, but it was so hard to remember.

"We need to take them back to the village."

For some reason that phrase triggered her memory, and Ino grabbed the clothes of the ANBU that had healed her, jerking his attention back to her. "Naruto!"

The man paused, then nodded. "You need to rest."

"But-" Ino started to protest, only to have the man calmly reach out and touch her neck softly, then, suddenly, her entire world went black.

* * *

Watching as the last of the kage bunshin disappeared, Naruto cursed to himself, thankful that he could still manage the Meisai Gakure. The spiders had sealed both exits, they knew he was still there, and he was the one they wanted. Crouching down against a chunk of rock that had been blasted free from the wall, he concentrated on his breath. 

As long as he didn't do anything stupid and remembered what Anko had taught him, he might survive long enough to figure out a solution to this new problem. He just thanked the kami that he was so used to holding still until he figured out his next move. That didn't mean it was easy; he could try to henge into a spider, but with how iffy that was at times, he didn't want to try.

Leaning against the rock, he closed his eyes, wondering what he was going to do, only to wince as he felt a sharp jab in the small of his back. Sitting forward, he turned to see what had poked him, and, as he remembered a lesson from Anko, he started to grin. Grasping the rock, he applied all of his weight, snapping the jagged point off.

This, of course, alerted every kumo-iki to where he was, and they started swarming toward him. Cursing, Naruto glanced around to spot the ninja, who was staring impassively in his direction. Well, if he could only kill one thing, why not the damn ninja?

That decided, he rushed toward the man, noting his plain face even as he allowed his Meisai Gakure crumble. He dodged three spiders and, closing rapidly, used the Hebi style to push off the ground while the makeshift rock knife arched up at the nin's chest. Just when Naruto swore that the blow was going to hit home, the man snapped his hand out and grabbed his wrist, twisting painfully.

The rock knife clattered out of his hand, and Naruto grunted before lashing out with a kick to the nin's solar plexus.

The mysterious nin released Naruto's wrist, inhaling sharply. Landing in a crouch, Naruto growled and then launched into another attack, only to have it dodged and countered with a jab to Naruto's face. The force of the blow sent Naruto somersaulting backwards before he smacked painfully into the rock wall of the cavern and collapsed to his hands and knees.

His back throbbing, Naruto gasped in pain, raging at how the man seemed to be reading everything he did. It was like this guy had a thousand eyes or something! Pushing himself up, Naruto charged forward, pushing off in one way on to change directions in mid-move driving his punch into the man's chin snapping his head back.

Naruto didn't hesitate for an instant and grabbed the man's shoulder and yanked it down with all of his strength, forcing the man's face into his rising knee. The man stumbled back, dazed, and Naruto plunged ahead, heedless of the lack of damage. Leaping, Naruto delivered a hard front kick to the man's chest, forcing the man to stagger once more before smiling bemusedly.

Naruto, of course, remained oblivious to this and just continued attacking, his attacks landing, but resulting in no visible results. Landing after his latest barrage, Naruto stared up at the ninja who was still smiling in a bemused fashion. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto prepared for yet another attack when he was forcibly reminded of the spiders.

Seconds after the webbing had slammed into him, followed by two spiders, he was yanked into a kneeling position before the mysterious ninja.

"You are a very strange child..." the ninja remarked

"Screw you!" Naruto shouted in response, struggling against the webbing.

"Reidou-sama says that your chi is quite impressive... She will be honored to receive your gift," the ninja said as if Naruto hadn't spoken at all.

"What gift?!"

"Your chi, of course," the ninja explained calmly. "Yes, I agree with Reidou-sama, your chi should be quite delicious."

"Say wha?" Naruto shouted, struggling at that. He didn't know what 'chi' was, but he understood that she was talking about eating him, and he really didn't want to be eaten.

"Reidou-sama must have chi. Otherwise, she can not give birth to her family. Joji-san did not provide nearly enough to quench her hunger; you, however, should do quite well." The ninja sounded pleased. "It will be nice to have true brothers and sisters again."

"What the hell are you talking about? She's just a damn spider!" Naruto shouted, only to have the ninja slap his cheek hard. Wincing, Naruto stared up defiantly at the ninja.

"Do not dare to speak!" The ninja shouted angrily. "Reidou-sama is an ancient and powerful demon, my beloved mother. She has killed men twice your size and devoured entire villages before you were born! She has terrorized the dreams of children for generations, and the form she wears now is nothing compared to her true horrible beauty!"

"Ok, I get it! She's evil," Naruto said, snorting. "Still a damn spider."

"You insolent-" the ninja shouted, hand rising as he prepared to strike once more, when, suddenly, he paused, as if listening to a voice. Arm lowering, he nodded, turning toward a dark section of the cavern. "Please, Mother, show him your true glory."

Naruto watched as the figure came slowly out of the shadows. Her face was nearly perfect, with lovely green eyes and rich black hair. Then, he saw the rest of her. His mind reeled, staring at those eight legs and the body. It made a mockery of her beauty. He was so distracted that he completely forgot about struggling, just watched as she strode toward him with eight sharp 'taps' with each step.

"Behold Reidou-sama, Mother of all Spiders! The greatest demon in the land!" The ninja said fiercely glaring at Naruto. "She who has brought greatness to some and death to others! She who shall give birth to another brood, a true brood!"

Naruto stared up at the kumo-iki as she came to a stop near the ninja, and, when she spoke, her voice was brittle and unnatural. "I thank you, most brave warrior. Your chi shall restore mine strength completely, and Mongkut shall know his family once more."

Naruto opened his mouth to scream, but Reidou struck like lightning, her legs lifting him up effortlessly. He thrashed uselessly before crying out as she bit into his neck. A white-hot searing pain raced through him, eradicating nearly every thought in his head. It seemed to go on forever, torturing him as he died; his vision was beginning to darken.

As the searing pain began to fade, and his mind slid into silence, he felt a warmth spreading through him. It was so strange, like he was dreaming as he died. He thrashed once or twice, his mind focusing briefly on fighting back, but, ultimately, his mind went dark, and all that was left was that consuming heat.

Then, a part of him shifted, as if it was stirring from a deep slumber...

...It was malevolent and rage personified...

...It was **Evil** and it roared...

...and something inside Naruto awoke.

* * *

"Geez, why do we have to go back?" one of two white-masked, black-garbed men complained. 

"Probably because you went and said he was _probably_ dead," his companion said blandly.

"Hey! You agreed with me, though, Hiroko."

Hiroko grunted in response, speeding up slightly. Hiroko, unlike his teammate Makoto, knew exactly why they had been sent back. It was actually almost obvious. At least, it would be if Makoto paid attention to things; after all, this Naruto was Mitarashi Anko's pet project.

So, of course, at the first hint of Naruto being alive, their captain would send them out to retrieve the boy. The only real question in Hiroko's mind was if the blond was still alive or not. Considering what this genin team had been fighting, he doubted it. After all, it was obvious that Kumo-iki, if they really were those creatures, were well beyond genin.

"Hiroko, hey, slow down, will you?" Makoto shouted, speeding up to matching his pace once more.

"You should train more," Hiroko remarked tiredly. "Or take up teaching."

"Hey, stop taking it out on me, okay?" Makoto snapped, falling silent for a minute before speaking again. "Do you think that girl was really telling the truth? That these are Kumo-iki?"

"I don't know," Hiroko said, shrugging. "I know that the few we fought felt different than those giant spiders in the Forest of Death. So, maybe they are what all those old stories based the kumo-iki on... Either way, these genin did very well in surviving inside their den."

"Yeah, I can see why Hayate-sempai is wanting to enter them in the Chunin exam," Makoto said. "Though, _if_ he is dead, then they'll be one man short again..."

"And a sensei," Hiroko said with dark humor. "Remember, this Naruto is really Anko-sempai's student. I imagine she'll be upset if he's dead."

"Oh yeah," Makoto sighed shaking his head. "I had forgotten that."

"But, if he's alive..." Hiroko said, taking the lead once more. "I can't wait to see him fight Itachi-san's brother."

"Hey! That's right... That fight should be awesome," Makoto said, brightening as well. "I'll put twenty Ryou on him."

"Naruto or Sasuke?"

"Hmm..." Makoto mused as they finally cleared the trees and landed in the same clearing that they had arrived in about six hours ago. "Naruto. Again, if he survived."

"Okay, I'll take the bet," Hiroko said, scanning the area carefully. "I doubt Itachi-san will let his brother be that poorly trained."

"Ah, but Anko-sempai is going to really push him..." Makoto responded, slipping his kusarigama from its pouch and nodding at the entrance that was almost hidden in the rock face. "I'll go first, neh?"

"Yeah," Hiroko agreed, slipping his sai from their holsters carefully, following his teammate into the entrance. He was put off slightly by the odd feeling he was getting the further they went into this darkening tunnel. Hiroko quickly lost sense of time. The further they went, the more it felt like it was never going to end.

"Hey, this is strange..." Makoto said, crouching down to check on something.

"What is it?"

"Blood," Makoto said, his tone dubious. "At least, I think it is... Looks a bit green."

"Ah, remember that girl claimed she stabbed one of them," Hiroko said, shaking his head, studying the liquid as well, happy that, for once, their masks actually worked like they were supposed to, allowing them to see in the dark.

"Hn. Here I thought she was just trying to impress us," Makoto muttered before continuing downward, both being very careful not to make a sound.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they came to the semi-hidden entrance and, with speed only granted to ANBU, they darted inside, expecting a fight.

"Sweet kami," Makoto hissed stopping suddenly.

Hiroko agreed, looking around in awe. Instead of giant spiders waiting to pounce, or enemy ninja, what they found was total desolation. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered in that same green liquid as in the stairway; there were large chunks of rock all over the place; and, most frightening of all was the lingering sense of a killing intent.

"This is..." Makoto whispered, looking around intently. "That _is_ a killer intent I'm feeling, right?"

"What's left of it," Hiroko confirmed, moving slightly to the left, looking around curiously. "It had to be unusually intense for us to still be able to feel it."

"What about that chakra?"

"Unusal," Hiroko agreed again, motioning for them to split up. Moving as noiselessly as possible, they searched the cavern, careful to note the total lack of bodies. Just blood, killing intent and lingering chakra. Meeting in the center, they looked around and then at each other.

"Is it me, or does this place feel almost like a tomb?" Makoto said, his tone uneasy.

"It does," Hiroko confirmed, nodding toward a large smear of greenish blood leading from a man-sized hole in the wall. "Did you notice that?"

Turning, Makoto glanced at what his partner had noted, then nodded slightly. "Yeah. Scary that a genin could do this."

"I know." Hiroko glanced at his teammate, then around at the cavern. "Did you find his body anywhere?"

"No," Makoto muttered crossing his arms. "I'm not sure if that's a good sign or a bad sign."

"Okay, one step at a time," Hiroko said, twirling one of his sai expertly. "We've confirmed that Team Hayate completed the mission and that Uzumaki Naruto slaughtered an entire group of giant spiders and at least one assumed Jonin-ranked ninja."

"We have no idea where his body is," Makoto sighed. "Right, so it's search time. You take the left, I'll take the right."

"Check," Hiroko agreed, and both ANBU separated, taking their respective sides of the cavern, and began searching. Unlike they had at first, they actually paid attention to the cavern, looking for a body. The initial surprise at such a large amount of destruction had overridden common sense.

After all, it was not every day you got to see handiwork of this caliber from a genin. Anko really was a better teacher than he had thought.

Shit, now this meant that if he wanted any chance at Sasuke winning he'd have to train him along side Itachi. Geez, just how strong was Naruto? Shaking his head, he squatted, lifting a large rock and almost hoping to see an broken body, but found nothing. Standing, he looked around, wondering where the boy could have been.

"Hey I found him!" Makoto shouted, and Hiroko turned, darting toward the other man.

The ANBU in question was kneeling over the battered and bruised form of a blond-haired child with strange whisker marks. His clothes looked horrible, and his face was pale, but it was obvious that he was alive. Unconscious, but alive. "Is it chakra exhaustion?"

Makoto ran a glowing blue hand over the boy for a moment, then shook his head. "Well, he is low on chakra, but not it's not deadly. That's funny..."

"What is?"

Makoto looked up, and Hiroko could imagine the confused look on the man's face despite the mask. "Well... His body's already healing itself. It's moving slowly, but it's... It's just strange."

"Probably a bloodline," Hiroko said, shrugging dismissively. "Let's get him out of here."

"Yeah. He's okay to move, and I'll keep an eye on him just in case," Makoto said putting his weapon up before collecting the boy and standing. "Don't suppose I could make it a hundred Ryou now, huh?"

"Not on your life," Hiroko responded dryly, turning to lead the way out of the cavern.

"Spoil sport."

* * *

Edyoto...

The man watched the samurai intently from his hiding spot, knowing that soon he would have to act, but hesitant to actually do so. He had spent a week studying the patrol's, he knew the layout of the estate to the last detail. Still he hesitated, the sheer numbers only ensured that this was a suicide mission, but he had no choice.

It was his mission.

As the current patrol disappeared around the far corner he made his move, darting toward the outer wall and jumping it silently. Landing adroitly he took a moment to look around at the garden, savoring its tranquil beauty and then he darted forward once more. Not a single blade of grass was disturbed in his passage and soon enough he was at the limestone inner walls.

Kneeling he quickly slipped his foot spikes into place and then satisfied did the same with his hand claws, he could not risk the use of excess chakra needed to climb. Nodding the man jumped, his spikes finding a tenuous purchase and then he was climbing. Seconds later he cleared this final wall and landed on the inner courtyard, hidden among the swirling shadows.

Holding his breath he crouched, watching as a group of three samurai strode past in conversation. Once the path was clear he darted along and then, slipped through the first window he found. Pausing long enough to remove the climbing tools, he stood, taking in the corridor.

Eyes adjusting to the dim candle light, he hurried down the hallway careful to use the Stealthy Step, ducking into an alcove as yet another group of samurai passed on a patrol. Frowning he watched them intently, uneasy now due to the unexpectedness of it. There was suppose to be no guards making a patrol in this part of the mansion for several hours.

Tensing he waited until he was sure they were gone and that nobody else was going to follow, then moved out into the hallway and hurried forward. He made the rest of the trip in peace, stopping at the last corner, aware that he was now facing the most dangerous part of his mission. Slipping a mirror out of a pouch he peeked around the corner carefully to ensure that the samurai was exactly where he should have been.

Satisfied he returned the mirror to its proper location and prepared himself. Straining he heard the samurai yawn, and second later he had imbedded a kunai into the samurai's skull while darting forward to catch the body and let the dead samurai slump gently. Easing the samurai to the ground, the man paused, retrieved his kunai and then eased the door open to cross the empty space beyond.

Moving quietly he hurried forward, ignoring various doorways until at last he paused at one that seemed utterly innocent. No different than any other door in the mansion, but he knew that it was his final obstacle on his mission. The kunai slid into his right hand silently as he knocked in the coded pattern known to a select few.

He paused, listening to the answering knock and then responded yet again, speaking quietly. "I have urgent dispatches for Kasigi-sama."

The door swung open and the man lunged forward, his kunai slashing through the first samurai's throat and then burying itself into the second of the guard's. A slight twist and out again. He was moving before they hit the ground, pushing through the door into an inner; everything was going perfectly.

Spotting the desired shoji he applied chakra to his feet and shot across the anteroom, tearing through the door and lunching for the sleeping figure inside. Kunai gleaming he plunged it toward the figures chest, only to have it deflected by a gleaming katana.

Retreating the man paused, studying the samurai that was standing between him and his target. The man was average height and build, the typical red and black uniform of Fire Samurai. It was seeing those blue eyes and the white hair that alerted him to the identity of his new found foe.

"Shinta, formerly of the Konoha Hunter-nin's."

Shinta shifted his sword slightly, his voice firm. "Though you wear that mask, I know you. Katsumoto of the Konoha ANBU."

Katsumoto lunged at that, ducking the first slash at his neck, knowing that he was in over his head. Blow after blow was exchanged with the former hunter-nin, each time making it clear that Shinta was not going to allow this attack. Still, Katsumoto could not abandon this mission it had to be seen through to the end, then seconds after a brutal exchange left him unarmed the ANBU knew his final option was at hand.

The samurai charged in once more, and Katsumoto timed it perfectly, slipping inside to grab the man's robes and arm while falling backwards. It wouldn't stop the man, but it was enough for the man to have time for his final effort.

"For Unity!"

That shouted Katsumoto began flashing through a series of handseals for his special attack, staring at the recovering Shinta almost placidly. The ANBU saw the sword suddenly slashing through the air and he had just enough time to realize he was still too slow.

After that his head was sailing through the air and his jutsu died unfinished.

* * *

AN: 

A few additional notes, that I wasn't going to add until my new beta pointed out that I should add. Please read everything listed before you start badgering me.

1) The Glowsticks- Yes, I know that the glowsticks in my story do not function quite the same as the ones we have in the real world. Please keep in mind that this is a quasi past and present world, so they might have developed this way.

Plus, as this is my story and I didn't want to use flashlights (which could last a long time) we apply Geor-sama physics to this situation.

2)Kumo-iki. Yes, that is not the correct term. I know I could have used Onigumo, but that was not technically correct (Or at least it wasn't the time of writing this). The giant spiders in Japan, according to various sources, list them as kumo which can mean either 'Cloud' or 'Spiders'.

Iki is a Japanese word for demon...so, like another great Japanese creator (Rounin Kenshin anyone?) I made up my own word for the demons.

Thus Kumo-iki, literally Spider demons.

3) As for that mysterious ninja, he was the last of Reidou's oldest children. Reidou herself was about a thousand years old, he was about five hundred. As such they are both highly skilled at illusions (As Demonic Spiders were said to be).

The other, normal looking kumo-iki, were 'newborn' and as such not really in the same league. Oh yes, before I forget, They are both quiet dead along with all other Kumo-iki involved.

4) The Kyubi influenced Naruto...You don't get to see the violence, you see the aftermath, so what stage of transformation was this? About the same as in the original when he trounced Haku, a tad stronger, but no where near a 'tailed' stage.

At most he was about equal to when he first faced off with Neji, only this time he was running on Kyubi instincts (I.e. He was a berserker with an insane amount of power, easily enough to slaughter a bunch of wimpy spider demons.)

That's it, anything else ask and I'll explain.

Oh yea, 'fore I forget, don't ask about Naruto's henge problem...I will be explaining that before too long. Now to see if my beta has anything else I should point out for the next few chapters.

-Geor-sama


	12. Chapter 11: The Forbidden Mission

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 11:  
_-The Forbidden Mission-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

The Sandaime sighed, staring out the window behind his desk at the village.

He could remember finding the Nidaime doing that a lot toward the end, just staring and staring. Was it something about this office or job that slowly sucked the life out of a person? Or was it the fact that those who earned this job were not the type suitable to being trapped behind a desk?

The Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, as far as the Sandiame could remember, had been more at home in a fight than pushing paperwork. The Yondaime had been the same way, though he was the only Hokage that had ever managed to escape the tediousness of the job.

In some ways the Sandaime hoped that Naruto would never succeed in his dream; it would not be fair to trap so similar a ninja in this situation. Of course, the Sandaime mused silently, he also hoped with all of his heart that the boy could pull if off.

If for no other reason than to tick off those doddering idiots on the council.

Shaking his head, the Sandaime turned back to his desk and the scroll stretched out before him, his eyes sweeping over the message once more. It was a three-day-old message from the Daimyo, but just reading those words again made the Sandiame wince. The storm on the horizon was approaching faster than he had expected, and he was unsure of how much longer he could keep things calm.

At least he now had the ANBU actively searching for Jiraiya or Tsunade. He had made it quite clear to Kakashi that they had to be found immediately. Still, he felt something gnawing at his heart, telling him that neither one would be found soon enough. He prayed that he was wrong or growing pessimistic, but with his already failing health declining rapidly, the Sandaime couldn't just dismiss such a feeling.

Sighing, he put such concerns aside and picked up his pipe, studying it intently, wondering if he should indulge or not. Would it really matter? He was saved from making such a decision when the door to his office opened, followed by the familar and confident gait of Kakashi.

"So?"

"I have received several reports," Kakashi responded, closing the door behind him before approaching the desk.

Nodding, the Sandaime motioned with his free hand for the ANBU Commander to go ahead, then leaned back in his chair as Kakashi put his replacement book away. "Ahh, that reminds me: has Anko-chan returned your book yet?"

"No," Kakashi almost growled, eye narrowing dangerously.

Stifling his laughter, the Sandaime avoided the fuming ninja's glare. Personally, he found it hilarious that, not only had an upstart Genin stolen Kakashi's book from under his nose, but that Anko had made it a point of teasing him with said book. Even more hilarious was the fact that, for some strange reason, all the other copies of that paticular book within Konoha had disappeared.

"It's not funny," Kakashi finally said his tone almost pleading. "The publisher has no clue as to when the next book will come out, and the book I'm reading now is severely lacking in such areas."

"Yes, of course," the Sandaime chortled before regaining control of his humor.

Sighing, Kakashi shook his head, muttered something about the Sandiame not understanding fine literature, then changed subjects. "Shinta-san sent a report that his latest search party managed to track the remaining ANBU responsible for the attack on the Daimyo to Fushimi. I've already handed Anko-san her orders, along with all the details available."

"Excellent," Sandaime said, anxious to at last have some worthwhile information on this 'Unity'.

There had been rumors for years, but little if any real information. Even their name had been hidden until the attack on the Daimyo, which was also the first time that they had ever actually committed such an act. The Sandaime could only thank Benzai-Ten that, not only had the Fire Daimyo accepted that the ANBU involved were not under the Sandaime's personal orders, but also for the chance to gain a new source of information.

Shaking it off and trusting that Anko would obey all of the orders-she still hadn't forgiven him for transferring Naruto- he leaned back in his seat, leaving it to karma.

"On the lighter side," Kakashi continued after a moment, "Juuso-san has received final confirmation for the number of participating Genin in the upcoming Chūnin exam,"

"Ah. So, how many do we have coming?" Sandaime asked, finally lighting his pipe.

"One hundred and forty-four participants," Kakashi answered, glancing out the window. "That's forty-eight teams total, which is a marked increase from the last exam."

"Ah," Sandaime said, eyes narrowing as leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk. "How many teams were there last year, again?"

"Twenty-nine. It appears that Kusa is anxious to increase its number of Chūnin," Kakashi said dryly, glancing at the Sandiame. "All eligible non-rookie Konoha ninja have been nominated. All that's left are the three new teams."

"I wonder how many of those will participate?" Sandaime mused, scratching at his chin before blowing a smoke ring.

"Kurenai-san has repeatedly assured me that her team is ready for the exams. To quote: 'I have the utmost confidence in my team. I dare your examiners to try and break them.'"

The Sandaime chuckled before blowing a large smoke ring. "My, but Kurenai-chan is getting quite cocky."

"Oh yes. Ibiki has already assured me that he will take that challenge," Kakashi said, chuckling as well. "Yūgao has also told me that she received word that Hayate is confident in his team as well, especially with the addition of that..._boy_." The way he said 'boy' made it quite clear what the ANBU Commander thought about Naruto.

"What of Asuma's team? They should be ready for the exam as well," the Sandiame said, changing the subject to avoid laughing at the man.

"Skill-wise, Asuma says they are more than ready. They are the best team he's ever seen, but they lack motivation," Kakashi said after a moment. "Hinata-san appears to have a desire to change herself and, thus, to take the exam; however, she is not the type to push others. Which means that Shikamaru won't motivate himself, and since Choji follows his lead, there is little chance they will take this exam."

"I see," the Sandime mused, blowing several more smoke rings. He would have liked all nine to attempt it, but if they lacked the motivation, they would only hurt themselves in the long run. "So, we'll have a total of fifty teams with Teams Seven and Ten."

"Yes," Kakashi answered, eye dropping slightly.

"That should make things go faster, at least," the Sandiame finally said in dismissal.

"I agree. Also, Kusa does seem to be preparing for something, but it's very well hidden. Iwa, however, is making it very obvious that they want the head of the Kazekage's son, Gaara."

"Oh?"

"Yes, apparently Gaara was part of a team that was hired to assassinate the Rock Daimyo's grandchild." Kakashi shrugged, making it obvious that he had nothing else on the reason _why_ such an order would be given. "To be on the safe side, I've moved several ANBU Special Operations closer to both countries' borders for 'training exercises'."

"Good. I'll start redirecting some of our Jōnin missions toward those areas as well," the Sandaime said, setting his pipe aside for the moment. For some reason, the fragrant flavor was turning bitter in his mouth and distracting him, which was not a good thing. "Now, what about my wayward students?"

"That, I'm sad to say, is like trying to catch the wind," Kakashi said tiredly. "Tsunade-hime, despite massive gambling debt, has eluded all means of locating her. The same holds true for Jiraiya-sama; despite being quite the prolific author, he has somehow completely fallen off the face of the earth."

"I have confidence in your ANBU," Sandaime said after a moment while grinning. Then a wicked idea hit him, one that would undoubtedly force the man to step up the search. "I guess this means I will have to hand over the title of Hokage to someone else."

"Eh?"

"Yes, somebody that truly wants the job," Sandaime continued, his tone serious. "Somebody young, maybe with blond hair and blue eyes. Or you, I mean you do met all the criteria for Hokage..."

"...I will find them," Kakashi suddenly said, cutting the Sandaime off. Smiling, the old man watched as Kakashi produced his replacement book and left the office in a hurry.

When the door was shut, the Sandaime started laughing.

* * *

Upon seeing the massive gates of Konoha, Naruto wanted to weep. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but he was definitely happy to see them. After all, once he was back inside those walls, he would be free of Ino's bitching, Shino's annoying silence and Hayate's aggravating cough. Of course, even more importantly, once he was back in Konoha he would be able to do the one thing he desired above everything else: he could eat his precious ramen.

His mouth watered at the prospect, his stomach even rumbled in agreement. Ten number fives, three number fours and, of course, a Hokage -sized serving of his favorite: Miso Ramen!

"Baka!" Ino suddenly shouted, slapping him upside the head. "Everyone else is already inside, what are you doing standing out here daydream-oh my god, are you drooling?!" Ino suddenly began wiping her hand against her leg wrappings. "Ewwwwwwwww."

"What the hell are you hitting me for?!" Naruto shouted, rubbing at the side of his head, completely missing the look on Ino's face.

"You were daydreaming and drooling!"

"So what?" Naruto shouted back, then, pulling an eye down, stuck his tongue out at her. "Least I don't have bloodshot eyes like some drunk!"

"What?!" Ino shouted, shaking a fist at him threateningly. "Hayate-sensei explained that's from the soldier pills!"

"Whatever," Naruto muttered before walking away from the angry girl while ignoring the bewildered and, in one case, perturbed, gate guards. He believed her, but he just enjoyed pissing her off. Hell, on the entire way back, she had treated him semi-decently. He suspected that was mostly due to the fact that he had saved all their asses and she was too tired to really make an issue out of his annoyances.

Coming to a stop just inside the gates, he stretched, eyeing an even sicker-than-usual- looking Hayate. Silently, he wondered if he would ever be normal again, but then he remembered Ino and her return to normal halfway back to the village. That was when he noticed that Shino was nowhere to be seen, which worried him slightly; they were on the same team after all.

"Oi, where the hell is Shino?"

"He had to see his father," Hayate answered, his voice raspy. "I told him to go on ahead."

"So, now what?" Naruto finally asked, double-checking that he was now free to pursue his ramen. "Are we getting another mission or training?"

"Uhmm...no, I'm going to file a report with the Hokage," Hayate said before coughing into a rag. "Umm, Ino, remember noon at the training area."

"Yeah," Ino said nervously as she finally joined them. Hayate nodded in response and then, without another word, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Casting a glance at a distracted Ino, Naruto shrugged, put his hands behind his head and started off, guessing correctly that he had nothing to say to the girl. Besides, his ramen was calling him!

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Naruto stopped, turned and blinked, staring at the girl, wondering why she had her arms crossed and her hip cocked like that. "Oi, why the hell should I tell you?"

"Because, I want to go shopping," Ino said simply, as if that answered everything.

"And?" Naruto questioned, waving his hand blandly. "Go ahead; I'm not going to stop you."

"First of all, I need someone to carry my bags," Ino replied, closing the gap between them. "Second of all, you are the only one still here."

"So?" Naruto crossed his own arms, preparing to leave.

"Third, I'll buy you ramen if you come shopping with me."

Naruto hesitated. Normally, there was no possible way Ino could get him to go with her. However, this was ramen, and not just any ramen, but _free_ ramen. To say that he was torn was an understatement. After all, he would be shopping with Ino, but, free ramen!

Ino seemed to guess at his reluctance, and she gave him a sly smile. "I'll even make it miso ramen."

Naruto froze, staring at the girl in surprise. Never in a million years would he have expected her to use his weakness in such a fashion; hell, he was utterly surprised by the fact that, not only had she listened to him talk about his favorite ramen, but _remembered_. "M-miso ramen?" Naruto finally stammered weakly, mouth watering.

"Free miso ramen..." Ino corrected proudly.

"O-okay..." Naruto muttered, unable to turn down such an offer. Part of him cursed at the fact that he had been utterly defeated by the chance at free noodles. Then, of course, that part remembered this was free miso ramen and it promptly shut up.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto found himself walking into his sixth high-end clothing store, wondering why she needed him to carry her bags if she wasn't buying anything. Trailing after Ino, he felt the now-familiar cold glares that were sent his way, knowing already that they were for his gall at wearing orange. Shaking his head, he caught up to Ino, who was surrounded by jackets.

"Oi, can you hurry up?" Naruto muttered, glaring at one of the jackets as if it had offended him.

"Give it a rest," Ino responded, running a sleeve through her fingers. "Shopping isn't just selecting things that look nice; you have to hunt. You have to find just the right material--silk or cotton--make sure it's not too soft, but not too firm. You have to make sure you know if it's tumble-dry or not."

"They're just clothes!" Naruto shouted, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "For the love of kami, just pick something already."

"What's your childhood trauma?" Ino snapped, glaring at him. "This is important, okay! Like, selecting the perfect flower!"

"Ugh!" Naruto tugged at his hair and then paused, noticing something about the jackets she was looking at. Blinking, he studied them, then, frowning, realized that she had looked at the same type in all the other stores as well. "Hey, waitaminute, why the hell are you looking at these?"

"Huh?"

"These!" Naruto said gesturing at the jackets, wondering if she was shopping for who he thought she was. "They're guy jackets! If you're trying to buy that idiot Sasu-"

"First off, baka, Sasuke-kun isn't an idiot," Ino said cutting him off as she selected a jacket. "And second, I'm not shopping for him."

"Oh." Naruto paused then blinked. "Then, who?"

"You," Ino sighed, turning as she held out a jacket to judge it against him.

"WHAT?!"

"I can't stand orange, and you need a new jacket," Ino replied matter-of-factly, putting the jacket up while selecting another one. "I decided that, if I have to spend who-knows-how-long running around with you on my team, then I sure as hell don't want to see orange."

"What?!" Naruto shouted yet again, eyes even wider. Ino wanted to rob him of his one--no, second--true joy in the world? "Orange is a classic! It's even the perfect color and...and... It's like ramen! A gift from the god's themselves!"

"Orange is an eyesore!" Ino retorted, eyes narrowing. "Besides which, has it ever occurred to you that, now that you're an actual ninja, you might need something that won't draw everyone's attention to you?!"

"I don't care!" Naruto shouted crossing his arms. "I'm wearing orange, and there's nothing you can say or do to change that!"

"Wanna bet?" Ino questioned challengingly. "You may be the strongest person on this team, but I'm Yakamana Ino, and I can make your life a living hell. I could probably even get Hayate to withdraw us from the Chūnin exams."

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to respond to such a statement, then paused. It was only because of Anko that he even considered what the girl had just said. After training with that woman, Naruto was accutely aware of just how much of a living hell a female could make his life. Plus, he had seen her convince Hayate to do things her way once or twice, so there was the fact that he believed that if she wanted she _could_ get him to pull them out of the exam.

"Damn it," Naruto muttered, glaring at her impotently.

"Now, then, let's see..." Ino said, smirking at him smugly before she turned back to the racks of clothes.

Despite his apparent surrender, Naruto was actually giving serious thought on how to best escape this girl's clutches.

"How about this?" Ino asked, turning to hold up a purple jacket.

"Over my dead body," Naruto ground out.

"That could be arranged," Ino responded pleasantly, then, putting the jacket up, selected a dark blue one. "Hmm..."

"Ino..." Naruto warned.

The girl ignored him, but put it back anyway, before grabbing another jacket. "This would work..." Seconds later, she produced a solid black jacket and turned toward him, which prompted her to start blushing for some damn reason.

Naruto suspected that it was because Sasuke had taken to wearing black.

"Excuse me," Naruto hissed, narrowing his eyes. "But do I look like some goth pretty-boy Uchiha?

"As if you could look half as good as Sasuke-kun," Ino shot back sarcastically, but, amazingly, kept from smacking him upside the head. "It's either this or white..."

"Oi! I told you, I'm not giving up my orange!"

"AH!" Ino suddenly brightened holding a finger up. "Now that I think of it, white would be perfect, though you might stain it. I guess that would mean you'd have to give up ramen."

"Ack!" Naruto shouted, jumping as he pointed at her. "I knew it! You're a Oni in disguise! I'll NEVER forsake orange or ramen!"

"The Chūnin exam," Ino said smugly.

That was when Naruto had an utterly brilliant idea. Glancing over her shoulder, he suddenly paled, pointed and shouted the only possible thing that would allow him a chance of escape. "SASUKE SHIRTLESS!"

"WHERE?!" Ino shouted, whirling around, which was, of course, exactly the chance Naruto needed to escape.

By the time she noticed he was gone, Naruto was already on the roof and darting away. Listening to her curses, Naruto laughed. Once he was safely away from that insane girl, he slowed to a more leisurely lope along the rooftops, heading for his one true desire.

The one thing that he had nearly wept with despair over how long he had gone without: sweet, delicious Ichiraku Ramen.

Seconds later, he dropped to the street below and parted the entrance curtains to enter his favorite stand.

"Hey kid, what'll it be?" asked the familiar chef.

"The usual, and make it fast, I'm starving!" answered Naruto with a grin.

It was good to be home.

* * *

"Weapons, check. New jacket, check. Ramen packs, check." Anko smirked, surveying the small bundle on the bed. Satisfied that she had collected everything, the Jōnin picked the bundle up and turned, striding out of the bedroom and then through the dingy apartment, closing the door with a heavy thunk. Slipping the bundle into a hidden pouch on the inside of her trench coat, Anko considered the building.

How could Naruto ever have found the place? Oh, she had no trouble believing that he could be annoying enough for an orphanage to kick out, but that still didn't explain how such a child could not only wander into such a neighborhood unaccosted, but also find an apartment. Anko did, of course, have a few theories, but in all honesty it didn't matter.

Glancing at the whino sleeping in the corner near the building, she sighed and, with three rebounding jumps, was on the roof's and headed back toward the center of the village. Turning her mind away from the slums, she, instead, focused on what Hiroko and Makoto had told her yesterday. Part of her was confused about the impossibility of what they claimed Naruto had done, while the other part wanted to cackle.

Either way she sliced it however, it only firmly affixed in her mind that Naruto was everything she had been told and begun to hope for. Thus, when she had heard that Hayate's team would arrive today, she had known exactly who to take as her partner for her new mission.

Best of all, she was protected by _orders_ from the Hokage himself.

Reaching the area where that ramen stand he was so fond of was located, Anko dropped to the street and weaved her way through the crush of people. It was not something she was used to doing much, anymore--she tended to avoid getting in the heart of crowds--but it wasn't that bad. However, when she reached the ramen stand and discovered the 'closed to recover from the Naruto-rush' sign, Anko suddenly lost her tolerance for the crowd around her.

Shoving two men aside, she performed another rebounding jump to regain the rooftops where she set off at an easy pace, wondering where else the blond would go. Well, eventually he would head home, but that would probably be after he went to all of his various hang-outs. Coming to a stop, she frowned. He had never mentioned any place, but if she knew him at all, she had a good idea of where he would go after that ramen stand.

Turning to her left, she started off once more, heading toward the Hokage Mountain. It was actually rather obvious; after all, his dream was to be Hokage. So, where else would the blond go after a mission in which he killed a jonin-level ninja and several giant spiders?

Ten minutes later, she left the roof-tops once more and landed in the street, staring up at the mountain and the metal stairs that would lead to the public landing. Darting up them, it took her only five more minutes to spot the vague orange blob on top of the mountain, which allowed her to pull off a Shunshin and reach the top without wasting any more time.

Landing, Anko took a moment to choose her words carefully, then snuck up behind the oblivious boy. "Hey, runt. Heard you were back."

Naruto jerked, nearly fell, then jumped to his feet, a grin on his face. "Anko!"

"Ugh! You're not going to hug me are you?" Anko asked, smirking. When the blond crossed his arms and snorted, she reached into her coat, producing the bundle. "Good, 'cause we have a mission and don't have time for that mushy shit."

"A mission?" Naruto blinked, catching the package as she tossed it to him. "But I just got back..."

"Its A-ranked and time sensitive," Anko explained, ignoring his protest. After all, she was pretty sure he wouldn't mind going on another mission, especially if it was A-ranked. "So hurry up, get dressed and let's go."

She was right. In a matter of minutes, Naruto had the bundle open, his replacement jacket on and the replacement weapons tucked away. Grinning, he looked up at her, excitement and joy in every line of his face. "Oi, so what's the mission?"

"...Let's get moving first," Anko hedged, knowing that she might be pushing thing's. Even with orders from the Hokage, Anko was very aware of how much trouble she could get into. After all, strictly speaking, she wasn't supposed to be taking Naruto out on mission's anymore.

"Ok! Let's go!" Naruto shouted, darting past her, and Anko grinned, darting after him. It took them several minutes to reach the bottom of the mountain, then another twenty or so to reach the nearest gates. She almost laughed at the surprised look on the guards' faces as they shot past them at high speed.

"So, how was your mission with that team?" Anko finally asked after they were safely out of the village and in the forest, heading for the mission location.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, then grinned, performing a Naruto-ish loop. "I kicked ass all over the place! I'm gonna be Hokage soon, believe it!"

"So how did you manage to kill a jonin-level ninja and several giant spiders?" Anko asked, keeping an eye out for anyone following them.

"I...er..don't really remember," Naruto answered, his blue eyes darting away, then back at her. "I know I did it...er...I think I did, but I can't remember..."

"Oh, well," Anko said, shrugging. In all honesty, she didn't care how he had done it, only that he had done it. After all, that proved his strength, and that was the important thing.

"So, so?! You said this was a super-important mission!" Naruto shouted a minute later, double-timing it to keep pace beside Anko.

"It is," Anko allowed, glancing at him with a smirk in place. "See, the Fire Daimyo is making his annual State Visit of the country."

"Huh? So, what's the big deal?" Naruto asked, blinking in curiosity.

"Well, during his visit to Edyoto, there was an assassination attempt." Anko gave the blond a curious glance, noticing his surprise. "What makes this so important is the man who attempted to assassinate the Daimyo: Katsumoto of Konoha ANBU."

"WHAT?!"

"Keep your voice down," Anko growled, pleased to note the look he gave her. "Now, then. The Daimyo was understandably upset and, after a lot of things you don't even wanna hear about, started searching for Katsumoto's partner, Souzen."

"And?"

"Souzen, of course, killed several samurai and managed to escape to a small village called Fushimi, which will take us about a week to reach." Anko shook her head, voice growing serious.

"A week?" Naruto blinked, frowning. "The Chūnin exam..."

"You'll be back in plenty of time," Anko said dismissively. "This is a different type of mission than you're used to. See, the samurai can't forcibly take the village due to the villagers. Even if they could, Souzen has gathered a few missing genin together, so that would mean a suicide mission."

"So, our mission is what, exactly?"

"_My_ mission is very simple. Since I know Souzen and how he fights, I'm to enter the village and capture him," Anko explained, smirking. "As for _your_ mission, all you need to do is handle the Genin. Of course, if I were you, I'd treat this like a Chūnin exam."

"Huh? Why?!"

"This is the sort of mission Chūnin sometimes get assigned. So, it's a perfect warm-up for you," Anko explained, waving her hand dismissively. "It's a judgment call on what you do with the Genin."

"Oi! What the hell do I do, then?!" Naruto shouted.

"Iunno; that's up to _you_. However, since this is an high priority A-ranked mission, you get to use whatever means you deem necessary." Anko grinned, glancing at him, sure that he would like what was coming next. "Including the jutsu I'm going to teach you before we reach the village."

"Really?" Naruto asked, eyes lighting up at the thought of learning new jutsu.

"Yep. Futon: Daitoppa, an extremely powerful wind attack." Anko smiled sweetly. "It's one of the most practical techniques available, especially for you."

"Huh?"

"Remember that paper I had you hold and split with your chakra on the way back from Kusa?" Anko asked absently, wondering how best to explain herself. Well, even he had to know about charka types; it was a basic concept, after all. "It told me that your chakra type is wind-based, which is really good. Means you're best suited for fighting and makes wind-based jutsu

stronger in your hands."

"Wind-based?" Naruto echoed blankly.

Anko gritted her teeth, glaring at him, unable to believe that he could have been so stupid. "You really _did_ sleep through the academy, didn't you?" She asked scathingly, unable to help it. Seeing his frightened look, she snorted, forcing her frustration aside for the moment. "Each ninja has a tendency toward a certain element, fire and wind being the most dominant in combat types."

"Which means?"

"It means," Anko grated out, her urge to hit him over the head growing stronger, "that if a normal Daitoppa can level twenty or thirty trees, then if you use it with your affinity for wind jutsu, it'll level three times that amount."

"Wow!"

"Yea, should come in handy during the Chūnin exams," Anko remarked, pleased that he finally seemed to understand. Honestly, he was so thick-headed sometimes that she wondered if he had eaten a lot of paint chips as a kid.

"Yes! I'll be kicking ass and showing everyone how strong I am, now!" Naruto shouted excitedly, adding a spiral to his jump.

"Maybe, but first ya gotta learn it," Anko said, glancing at him dangerously. "Just try not to get yourself killed."

"Oi, I'm gonna be Hokage! I won't die until then!" Naruto said loudly, glaring at her.

"Good. We'll start training when we stop for dinner. Until then, keep your mouth shut and your ears open."

"Bah!"

* * *

Shino found his father, as always, sitting quietly in the Aburame family training grounds. Actually, as his father had explained once before, it wasn't a typical training area. Other training areas were designed and built for combat practice; for the Aburame, it was designed to build a stronger connection with their chosen partners.

Coming to within a few feet of the silent older man, he stopped, not saying a word or moving. It seemed to stretch on forever until, finally, his father turned to him, speaking in his familiar tranquil tone. "Can you hear them yet?"

Shino remained silent for several long minutes, then nodded slightly. "Yes. They ignore me, but I can hear them."

"Good," Shibi said, looking at a bug that was fluttering up from a piece of old wood. "Hyun says that you are curious about something."

"Why do they react like this?" Shino asked, putting his hands in his pockets. "They have never reacted like this to any other creature. Kumo-iki could not cause this."

"...There is a precedent for their reaction," Shibi said slowly, as if measuring what he was saying. "Twelve years ago, when Konoha fell under the wrath of The Beast. He drove nearly all Aburame insane and caused our Kickaichu to turn on us."

"He was a demon, but how could he have such an effect on our family's connection?" Shino asked quietly, head tilting forward slightly in thought. Even with the voice of his family returned, their continued rejection of him severely hampered his thoughts. He knew it was an obvious answer, but he could not quite put his finger on it, which caused a finger to twitch slightly.

"The Beast also drove the Inuzuka hounds into uncontrollable rages, and those that were foolish enough to attempt to enter a beast-like state became berserkers."

Shino frowned, then felt his eyes widen before he looked up at his father. It was obvious now: the Inuzuka had been the key for him. He was even willing to bet that the Hyuuga or Uchiha were also affected if he was correct. "It is because the dogs and our Kickaichu can, in a way, 'see' the true nature of things."

"The Beast was the Lord of demons. He existed as both natural and unnatural, as all demons do. It is not unexpected that, if we could only barely sense its true nature, that the Inzuka dogs and our kickaichu, who see reality far more clearly than we do, would react in such a manner."

"So other clans were affected, as well."

"Yes," Shibi said, turning away slightly. "All things that could perceive the true nature of the Beast or touch its mind were affected."

Shino nodded slightly, thinking over everything he had learned. Now that he understood the reason for his family's reaction, he could concentrate on reestablishing a dialogue with them. To do that, however, would mean that he would have to skip team meetings, especially if he wished to be ready for the coming exam.

"I have spoken with Hayate-san," his father suddenly said, turning completely, as if to walk away. "He agrees that it would be best if you took this time to recover."

"Thank you,." Shino said, watching his father walk away silently. Alone, Shino turned his attention to the training grounds, walking to his favorite location beneath an overturned tree. Settling in, he took a deep breath and then closed his eyes, considering how best to go about this.

Mentally shrugging, he sighed, speaking to his family quietly. "I'm listening," he said, then prepared for a long wait.

* * *

"That stupid jerk," Ino muttered to herself, pushing her way through the forest, heading for the training grounds. There was no denying that Ino was angry, mostly because she had been outsmarted by Naruto. How could she have fallen for such an obvious trick?

Honestly, how likely was it that Sasuke would be shirtless in a store? "Ugh, that was so totally wrong."

Shoving that aside, and promising retribution, she turned her attention toward the reason why Hayate had told her to meet him here. Despite asking him to teach her kenjutsu after they had recovered from their various ailments, he had yet to tell her whether he would or not. He refused to let her even handle his sword anymore, which was annoying since Ino had begun to feel almost naked without it.

Still, it looked promising, which was why she had made it a point to check with her father to see if he was okay with it. He hadn't been thrilled, but he supported her decision if she truly felt she needed to know it. He had, however, insisted that she continue practicing the family jutsu, mainly, as he had told her while smiling, 'because that way, when I eventually have grandchildren, you can teach them'.

"As if," Ino said to herself stepping into the training area. There was no way she was ever going to have a kid. Then again, her mother said that every girl felt that way at her age.

Looking around curiously at the area, she wondered where exactly Hayate was. Glancing at her watch, she frowned; it was exactly noon. Sighing, Ino walked over to a training post and sat down, unsure of what to do until the man arrived. Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes seemed to stretch into hours.

Ino, feeling restless turned her eyes to her surroundings, then she reached out and scraped a patch of ground bare of pine needles and leaves. Selecting a nearby twig, she scratched Sasuke's name in the dirt, sighing almost wistfully.

What chances did she have, in all honesty?

Sakura was already on his team; that they were getting closer was inevitable. Ino was almost willing to bet that Sakura had the Uchiha wrapped around her little finger. Sakura was not stupid, nor was she ugly. Which meant, looking at her prospects for actually winning Sasuke's affections, there was no chance outside of Sakura lossing total and complete interest in Sasuke.

Ino had to laugh at that impossibility. Sakura was obsessed with the boy, there was no other word for it. Other girls could admit that there were other cute guys around; Sakura didn't. It was almost frightening at times, now that Ino thought back on her academy days, at how fixated Sakura actually was.

Looking down at the name etched in the dirt, she sighed and scratched it out.

"There are two kinds of Shinobi, no matter what village they belong to."

Jerking, Ino stared up at Hayate who was crouching on a training post, an odd bundle under arm. The man coughed into his rag and then gave her a surprisingly intense gaze. "What?"

"There are two kinds of Shinobi," Hayate repeated, his eyes never leaving her face. "The first kind are those called geniuses. The second kind are those I call 'artists' and others call 'hard workers.'"

"Er...what's the difference?" Ino asked, deciding to keep her urge to berate the man for being late in check for the moment.

"On the surface, there isn't one; both are deadly, accurate and precise," Hayate explained before he jumped off the training post and crouched in front of her. "Fundamentally, however, they differ a great deal."

Ino nodded, watching as Hayate set the bundle under his arm on the ground between them. "That still doesn't explain what the difference is."

"The genius believes that his natural talent is enough, and, when he fights, he has no passion. The 'artist,' however, he knows that whatever natural talent or lack thereof he has, is not enough. When he fights, he does so with everything he has," Hayate explained, undoing the strings on the bundle to reveal five wooden swords.

"And this has what to do with me?"

"Kenjutsu, like ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu or any other skill is a life-time pursuit, one that can never be set aside."

"What do you mean?" Ino blinked, staring at him. She had a feeling that he was telling her that, once she started with this training, she would never be able to stop.

"I mean, if you want to learn kenjutsu, truly learn it, then you have to continue learning no matter what," Hayate explained, looking down at the wooden swords as if considering something. "For the Chūnin exam, I will teach you some of the ANBU basics as well as some of my own style. After that, however, I won't train you until you decide."

"Decide what?"

"If you are a genius or an artist." Coughing once more, he nodded at the wooden swords. "These are specially-designed practice swords."

"Okay," Ino said, blinking. "So, like, what do you want me to do?"

"Select one," Hayate explained. "Each one is designed to resist the channeling of chakra, which will build your capacity. When you can channel enough chakra through one of these, you'll be allowed a specially-designed sword that will work on your control."

Shrugging, Ino looked down at the swords, considering each one for a moment. Well, if she had to pick one, she would just get it over with. That decided, she reached out to grab a wooden sword with a jagged-looking blade, only to stop short. Frowning, she looked at another one and reached for it, but stopped yet again.

Each time she reached for a sword, she would stop, until, finally she crossed her arms and scowled. Each one had something that made her want to use it; it was like trying to choose between Sasuke and four other extremely cute guys. After several more minutes, she finally selected one and, amazingly enough, it felt natural in her hand.

"Good," Hayate said, rewrapping the others.

"What do you mean good?"

"Umm...well, each practice sword has a different level of resistance. Most people would have just grabbed the first one they felt like; you hesitated and then decided on the one best suited to your needs."

"So, like, what now?" Ino asked, climbing to her feet as Hayate did. It felt natural to hold the sword, but she really didn't know a whole lot; just whatever that clone had taught her.

"We have little over two weeks until the Chūnin exam," Hayate explained, walking over to a training post where he set the bundle down. Turning, he stared at her intently. "I've spoken to Shino and to your father; they understand that we will spend this time training."

"Ok, so, like, how long will that take?" Ino blinked hefting her sword trying to find a comfortable grip.

"Well you seem to have some natural talent with a sword, so we'll spend ten hours on kenjutsu each day, then another ten hours building up your chakra," Hayate said before coughing.

"What?! That's twenty hours a day!" Ino shouted, eyes wide in disbelief. There could be no way he could be serious! That would mean she would have four hours to sleep...and when the hell would she get to eat?

"To be ready for the Chūnin exams, you'll have to train at least three times harder than normal," Hayate responded seriously. "If you don't want to learn, I suggest you leave right now."

"F-fine!" Ino sputtered, eyes narrowing intently. There was no way she would back down now.

"Then let's begin."

* * *

"Feel the currents, focus your chakra, deep breath," Naruto muttered, concentrating as best he could moving his hands into the tori seal. "Futon: Daitoppa!" Seconds later, Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees, panting. That was his twentieth attempt in the last hour.

"Well, at least this time you managed to knock over a tree," Anko said from behind him.

"I did?" Naruto blinked and looked up, straining to see in the gathering gloom. There, indeed, where a large tree had been standing, was nothing. Jumping to his feet, Naruto thrust his fist into the air. "Yes!"

"Yea, yea...still kinda weak," Anko said climbing to her feet. "Come on, lets get moving again. I'd rather not draw too much attention to ourselves."

"Right!" Naruto said, catching his breath as he stretched before moving to retrieve his pack. Slinging it over his shoulder, he turned, following her into the trees once more and wondering wheteher they would get a chance to sleep. Well, he would probably spend any free time practicing, anyway, so it was a moot point. Still, it would be nice to sleep in peace.

Shaking his head, Naruto turned his mind to something else that had been nagging at him. This mission: something about it felt weird. Mostly because the further they went, the more irritable Anko seemed to become and--while she could be sadistic, vicious and annoyed--she was never like this. "Hey Anko..."

"What?"

"Well I've been thinking," Naruto said slowly, glancing at the woman. "There's something wrong about this mission." Anko didn't respond immediately, and Naruto started to fear she had decided to kill him. He even opened his mouth to say something when she beat him to it.

"Yes, it is wrong. Someone is turning us against each other," Anko said slowly, glancing at him. "An enemy is easier to fight and kill if it's outside, but if it's inside then it's much harder. Whatever the purpose of 'Unity' is, it can't be what they led others to believe."

"Huh...what is Unity?" Naruto asked, looking at her curiously.

"We're not sure," Anko answered with a shrug. "We know that it's made up of mostly ANBU, with some normal Jōnin, but, other than that, we know almost nothing except that they recognize each other by a hand sign."

"What hand sign?"

"A basic variation on the 'all-together' sign," Anko supplied, demonstrating briefly. "Most hand signs are common sense, used in small squads. So, of course, Unity would use a common one; who would notice a slight variation?"

"Oi, but how come we only know about that?" Naruto blinked.

"Use your damn head," Anko snapped glaring at him. "These are not stupid Genin or Chūnin; these are highly trained special operation ninja and field-tested Jōnin. They're almost impossible to break. Ibiki is the only one we have that's managed to break even one of them."

"Who?"

"Morino Ibiki. He's in charge of the Interrogation and Torture division of the ANBU. Of the five divisions within ANBU, his is the most useful now, and with his complete understanding of the human mind, he'll get whatever information we need to know."

"Five divisions?"

Anko sighed, as if restraining her instincts to snap at him. "Yes. Inside the ANBU, there are five divisions, which is to say, they're groups made up of people that specialize in certain aspects of the ANBU."

"Huh?"

"...In simpler terms, every ninja within ANBU specializes in one field. Some, like Ibiki, specialize in Torture and Interrogation. Hayate, for example, was actually part of a group that specialized in information-gathering and protection, which is probably why he was originally chosen as the sensei for ninja ideally suited to spying."

"Oh," Naruto said, then, after a moment, stared at her. "So...you were in the ANBU?"

"Yes," Anko answered tiredly.

"Then, uhm, what did you specialize in?"

"Assassination," Anko said, flashing a wicked grin at him. "I am _very_ good at it."


	13. Chapter 12: Loyalty and Honor

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 12:  
_-Loyalty and Honor-_  
By Geor-sama

* * *

The Sandaime looked up from his paper work at the polite, yet insistent, knock on his office door. Rubbing at his eyes he took a small breath, before setting his pen aside for the moment. "Come in," A moment later, the door opened, and he was greeted with the grey-uniformed Shinobi known as Izumo.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry for the interruption, but Kiyoshi-san and Kakashi-san are here. I wasn't sure who you wanted to see first..."

Sandaime hesitated; Kiyoshi _did_ have an appointment, but Kakashi might have an important reason to see him. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling in thought for several minutes before shifting his attention back to Izumo. "Just send them both in, please."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Izumo said, offering a polite bow before closing the door.

A few moments later, the door reopened, allowing both Kakashi and Kiyoshi to enter. "Kiyoshi-san, how nice to see you again," the Hokage said pleasantly, getting to his feet as he motioned the man to have a seat.

"Ahh, Sandaime-sama, you are looking well," the doctor responded just as pleasantly and doing as he was bidden, selecting a rather comfortable chair to relax in.

"I take it this isn't a social call?" Sandaime asked, moving to the bay windows, where he stared out at the village quietly.

"Sadly, no. I have Uzumaki-san's test results back." The man paused, then continued. "Perhaps the news can wait for a bit; you seem rather tired."

"Exhausted is more like it," Sandaime admitted with a chuckle.

"The Chūnin Exam is a very trying situation," Kakashi offered, leaning agiainst a wall near shelf of scrolls.

"Perhaps, but I'd like to schedule you for an appointment."

"You're the doctor." Waving a hand, the Hokage turned and resumed his seat while fixing the man with his gaze. "Now, about Naruto's exam?"

"Of course, of course. You should know, first of all, that I had to give him a complete physical." Kiyoshi paused, scowling slightly as if annoyed by something. "Uzumaki-san had one visit to the hospital about six years ago and was turned away; that's six years' worth of missing medical history..."

"I understand," Sandaime assured the doctor, wondering why doctors always hinted at money so slyly. "We have funds for cases like Naruto's."

"I was just informing you of his previous medical history so you'd understand my surprise and shock," Kiyoshi responded before assuming an authoritative tone. "I fully expected to see untreated and undiagnosed diseases, improperly set or healed bones... What I found... Hokage-sama, Uzuamki-san is in perfect health."

"And that's what inspired your 'shock and surprise'?" Kakashi questioned, sounding amused.

Even Sandaime had to admit that, while impressive, what Kiyoshi had told him was hardly earth-shattering.

Kiyoshi, however, shook his head, his tone growing even more serious. "Hardly, though it is an impressive feat considering he has been without medical care for a large portion of his life."

"Then what was it?"

"In all surface aspects, his body is normal," Kiyoshi said, lacing his fingers together. "His immune system is much more efficient than anyone else's, and his metabolism is abnormally high, but his reflexes, hearing, sight and other basic functions are normal."

"When you say abnormally high..." Sandaime prodded, leaning forward to rest his hands on the desk.

"I mean off the scale."

"Well, that would explain how Iruka-san can go broke buying him ramen," Kakashi said, humor in his tone. "I guess we don't have to worry about Naruto ever getting drunk, either."

"That is interesting," Sandaime mused, leaning back in his chair.

"Not half as interesting as what else I discovered," Kiyoshi said, his tone actually growing excited. "He heals at an impossible rate. I made a small incision on his finger for a blood sample, and, when I went to place a bandage on it, the cut had already nearly finished healing!"

"Really?" Kakashi said with a casuallness that was a bit too casual to be legitimate.

Sandaime, however, knew exactly what was going through the man's mind. It was a rather obvious thought: if such a healing ability could be harnessed for the ANBU, it would be invaluable. Of course, once word got out about this, then certain other groups within Konoha would want it as well. Sadly, the Sandiame could see no immediate solution to that situation.

"Yes, and not only that," Kiyoshi said, oblivious to the military thoughts running through the room. "His body, once it heals, does so in a manner to prevent the same level of injury from occurring again."

"Wait," Sandaime held a hand up, blinking slightly. "Could you...repeat that?"

"I mean," Kiyoshi said slowly, as if trying to contain his excitement, "that, not only does Uzumaki-san heal extremely quickly, but his body adjusts itself for the level of injury he receives."

"So, if I were to, say, break his fingers for stealing," Kakashi said slowly, his voice almost gleeful at the thought, "he would heal in such a way that I would have to use more force to break them again?"

"Er...yes, I believe so," Kiyoshi responded, staring at the masked man in consternation. "Upon noticing the rapid healing of the finger, I examined the shoulder that Anko-san reported had been injured. It was fundamentally different from the rest of his body. The flesh was thicker, the muscle fibers tougher."

"But such rapid healing must have a drawback," Sandaime said after a moment, unless Anko was correct in her theory.

"Our bodies heal and grow by the process of cell reproduction," Kiyoshi explained, shifting his attention back to the Sandiame. "It's called cellular mitosis, and, over time, the cells accumulate too many mutations, to the point of apoptosis--for them, and for ourselves."

"So, the faster and more rapdily a cell divides, the faster they approach death," Sandaime summarized, then arched an eyebrow at the smirk on the doctor's face. "I take it that Naruto's cells don't function that way?"

"Oh, his cells divide and reproduce," Kiyoshi said smugly "But Uzumaki-san's cells don't mutate. They are perfect copies. Therefore, they never come any closer to apoptosis."

"So he does have an Advanced Bloodline," Sandaime breathed in relief, sitting back in his chair.

"It does meet the criteria," Kiyoshi answered before rubbing at his leg nervously. "However, there is no record of such an ability, thus no official name. I chose 'Tenkeichiyu' as it seemed to fit best."

"I agree," Sandaime said after a moment of consideration. "I trust you'll agree to be his primary physician."

"I've already taken care of that. Besides, as it stands, unless Tsunade-hime suddenly returns, I'm the only one remotely qualified to handle his medical care."

"Good," Sandaime said, then, glancing at a suddenly anxious Kakashi, sat up. "If there is nothing else..."

"Actually," Kiyoshi said, leaning forward as well, "there is one last thing. I know it's not normally part of an A-1 level exam, but...I ordered a hereditary test for him."

"What did you find?" Sandiame asked, his instincts on edge. Had they, by examining him, found a living relative? Was Naruto not an orphan after all, and merely an abandoned child?

"First, please remember that most of the medical records from the indcident twelve years ago were destroyed," Kiyoshi said, as if hedging for time. "I can't tell you _who_ his mother is, specifically, but I can tell you that he seems to be distantly related to the Inuzuka...and one other person."

"How distant?" Sandaime suddenly snapped, eyes growing hard.

"Distant enough that the Inuzuka Clan would have no way of knowing," Kiyoshi explained. "Hokage-sama, I think his other relative could be more important."

Frowning, the Sandaime sat back in his seat, reaching up to cover his mouth in thought. If Kiyoshi thought the other relative was important, then he would accept that.

"This person is...well, he was/is immediate family, though he did lack the Tenkeichiyu."

"Define 'immediate'," Kakashi asked curiously.

"'Immediate', as in he was the father." Kiyoshi said sounding amazed. "Note 'was' as in past tense."

"So, who is it?" Sandaime asked, propping his elbows on the desk and lacing his fingers together. He stared expectantly at the doctor, waiting, knowing that whatever was about to be said was going to make life a lot more difficult.

Kiyoshi took a breath, as if what he was about to say was hard to admit. He closed his eyes for a moment then, opening them nodded. "Yondaime-sama," Kiyoshi said, tone reverent. "Uzumaki-san is the son the Yondaime Hokage."

The Sandaime remained perfectly still, as if frozen, and then, for all his dignity and extensive vocabulary, said the only word that his stunned mind could concieve of "...Fuck."

"...Naruto...related to Sensei?" Kakashi half-whispered, as if he couldn't believe it.

Slumping, the Sandaime lost himself in thought for several long minutes. He had noticed the similarites in appereance before, but had marked it off to his wishful thinking. There was the fact that the Yondaime had been found in the nursery of Cherunobuiri Hospital that night it was so freakin obvious. "Get Naruto in my office. This is..."

Kakashi didn't move for a moment and then his gaze turned ominous. "...Anko..."

"What about her?" Sandaime snapped.

Kakashi, however, shook his head and turned, heading for the door. "Nothing. Please excuse me..." Then, not waiting for an answer, he was gone, the door slamming behind him.

* * *

"Anko?"

"Mhhmm?" the Jōnin managed, not looking away from the village.

"Why didn't we just keep going?" Naruto asked, shifting to look at her.

"'Cause," Anko shrugged, finally glancing at him. "We need to study the situation before we go rushing in. After all, we don't just have to worry about the villagers. Those rice fields are important, too."

"Huh? They're just rice..."

Anko sighed and rolled her eyes, pointing at one of the fields being patrolled by a small group of genin. "Fushimi isn't just a small village;, they grow the highest quality rice in all of Hi no Kuni. Which means they are very valuable to the economy, since their rice is used for everything from sacramental sake to the tatami in the daimyo's castle."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, then scratched the back of his head. "Er...so why'd Souzen decide on this place? It doesn't seem like a good place."

"It's not," Anko allowed, turning her attention back to the village. "Normally this type of village is avoided by people in his situation, but I'm guessing he chose this place for a reason. Probably thinks that as long as he can threaten the fields the samurai can't move against him."

"But what about...you know, how most of the samurai are actually ninja?"

"Souzen is ANBU," Anko explained tiredly. "To an ANBU, even most field-tested Jōnin aren't much of a challenge in one-on-one combat. So, samurai are almost a joke, especially considering that Souzen specialized in Combat Operations."

"Combat-"

"It means he specializes at controlling teams and creating stratagems," Anko snapped, glaring at him. "Which means that he'll be expecting ninja." Naruto was silent at that, looking worried, and Anko relaxed, allowing her eyes to finish the scan of the perimeter. Satisfied that they had indeed selected the best entrance point, she smiled.

"Oi, what are you smiling about?" Naruto suddenly asked, his tone edged with tension.

"Because Souzen is not Kakashi," Anko answered, chortling. "He's expecting a full team, not just two ninja. He set up his perimeter under that assumption."

"So?"

"So, to quote Yondaime, 'Attack where the enemy doesn't expect you.'" Anko smirked, shifting her weight on the branch as she sat down to watch the sunset. "See, this road runs directly past the rice fields, and it has two teams:, one at the entrance and one in the fields.

"Er...but, if they have two teams, aren't they expecting something there?"

"Not really," Anko said waving a hand dismissively. "After all, this is main entrance to the village, nobody in their right mind would attempt to enter the village this way. You'd be spotted before you'd gotten near the walls, but because its so obvious...you don't need good ninja there. Just ones that can see. Since Souzen's forces are limited he's probably put his weakest and least talented genin here, to deter samurai and others away by a show of force."

"Right." Naruto deadpanned, sitting down next to her.

"So, while the stronger teams are guarding the other least likely entrances, this is the obvious choice." Anko explained, beginning to clean one of her nails absently. "It means he's honestly not expecting anyone to attempt to come in through the front door. After all, it's common sense to enter through a back or side door."

"How is that obvious!?" Naruto demanded looking thoroughly confused.

"All combat is based on deception," Anko grinned looking at him. "In other words..."

"'Think outside the box!'" Naruto said in comprehension before blinking. "So, what if he knows you'll think he wants you to enter from the back door, but will enter from the front door? It could be a trap then, right?"

"Oh yes," Anko nodded seriously. "But it's not. See, Souzen's real Ground Operation strength was offensive strategy. This is defensive strategy, and he's mediocre at best in that. Now, if this was Kakashi, I'd still be looking for a way in since he 'looks underneath the underneath'."

"Oh." Naruto frowned. "So...you're going in now?"

"No." Anko grinned sweetly at him. "I'll sneak past those two genin teams in the morning. Night time attacks are also a standard assumption."

"Ok," Naruto said, nodding in acceptance, and then fell silent before glancing at her. "What if I attacked the far side of the village at the same time?"

"So you're just going to walk up in full view and pick a fight with the strongest teams?" Anko asked before chuckling, amused that he was showing some aptitude for unique strategy. "Well, that certainly is outside the box."

"Great!"

Pause.

"...Anyway, miso ramen is better than seafood. Oi, and Pork ramen is still pretty good, but some people say its not that healthy, but it don't matter cause it tastes really-"

"Naruto-kun," Anko cut him off, her tone overly-sweet. Turning to face him, she arched an eyebrow. "Would you like me to cut off your tongue or your balls?"

"..."

"Good boy."

* * *

Kakashi was not prone to rash action -it simply was not his nature- which was why when he first learned of Anko's decision in recruiting Naruto for her mission he had kept from sending teams after her. Instead he had decided to wait and speak with the Hokage, mainly because Naruto was one of only two rookie Genin that Kakashi could see suriving this mission, and secondly because there was information about Unity he needed to share.

Sadly this was before he had discovered the connection between his sensei and the blond prick that had stolen his precious.

Now he was doing something exteremly rash, not to mention dangerous. Three days worth of travel, condensed into only a few hours, it should have been impossible. Technically it was, the Yondaime had managed it, but that was because he was the single most powerful ninja to have ever lived. He had a jutsu specially designed for such a task.

All Kakashi had was his genuis, large chakra capacity and a D-ranked jutsu. The Shunshin no Jutsu, which was most certainly never intended for prolonged use or traveling such huge distances. It was designed for short trips, quick escapes and little else.

Of course being the genuis that he was, Kakashi had of course, figured out the loopholes and used it as he pleased. The Shunshin no Jutsu balanced distance and elevation to chakra, so the further the distance and elevation the more chakra required. Kakashi had judged that the safest distance would be no more than a hundred feet at a time, which was proving more or less accurate.

Landing on a branch after his latest Shunshin, he paused, hand pressed agaisnt the rough bark while he recovered for a moment. Body protesting he looked up at the sky, pondering the only question that was really worth bothering with at this point. Why had _nobody_ ever realized Naruto's relationship to the Yondaime?

It could be possible for the village at large to be ignorant of the Yondaime's connection to Naruto, it could also be possible that the Yondaime had even hid it from the Sandaime for obvious concerns. Still, that shouldn't had kept Jiraiya from saying something.

Jiraiya, the one man who should have _known_, had acted as ignorant as anyone else. That was the real mystery, so far as Kakashi was concerned. If you knew that your most prized and beloved student had family, and that that family was now completely alone, it would only make sense that you see to their welfare.

You would, at the very least, keep tabs on them. Yet, Jiraiya, who _had_ to have known, pretended that the Yondaime was the last of his family. Kakashi supposed it was possible that because of the time frame of his depature, Jiraiya could have been ignorant. Kakashi doubted that however and taking a moment longer he mulled over his memories, trying to glean any clues to the Sannin's actions.

Finding nothing Kakashi shrugged and prepared to move once more, when a half-forgotten memory rose to the surface. It was, at first glance, a very superficial memory of a conversation between nurses shortly after the Yondaime's funeral. Yet, they had mentioned two key elements: One, that Jiraiya had visited the nursery before leaving the village; and two, he had muttered that 'it was for the best'.

Which meant that...

Whatever reason Jiraiya had for not revealing Naruto's relationship was for the best. The best for whom or what was unclear. Could he have known about Unity and their goals even then? Or was it something else? It was possible, Kakashi conceded, that Naruto could have been targeted by the Yondaime's old enemies. But the Hokage would never have allowed anything to happen to the child.

Hell, if it had been known, Naruto would have been adopted almost immedaitely, stimga or not. So just what was the legendary ninja's reasoning behind keeping the family connection quiet? Then of course came a question he dreaded, until _they_ knew why Jiraiya had covered it up, should Naruto even be told?

Which would be cruler, Kakashi wondered silently: knowing or not knowing?

Shaking his head he set those thoughts aside, realizing that he was wasting time and then with a burst of chakra and concentration he was moving once more. All that really mattered, Kakashi supposed as he passed yet another hundred feet and prepared for a nearly instaneous continuation, was that he ensured Naruto's safety.

After all, no matter the crime of stealing his precious book and giving it to that woman, Kakashi was honor-bound to keep his sensei's son alive. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated and then, faster than a heart beat, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Slipping unnoticed into the village, past the genin, Anko wondered at the sheer simplicity of Souzen's defense. Even if he was mediocre, he should have had a better understanding concerning defensive than just a handful of Genin. There should have been traps at the very least, but instead she was able to almost brazenly walk through the front gate with the early morning sun.

Hell, she probably didn't even need the Meisai Gakure now that she was actually in the village. Not that she was going to stop using it; after all, if it was so simple to enter the village, there had to be something she didn't know about. So, she made sure to keep an eye on the disgruntled villagers and anything that seemed out of place.

Still, there was nothing to even suggest that this village was better-guarded than she had first thought. Frowning, she decided that it was time to hit the best place to gather information, which meant ducking into an alley so that she could release her Meisai Gakure and henge herself into an unassuming female.

That done, she stepped back out in the streets, blending into the crowd as she began her hunt for a bar. That proved more difficult than expected; this place seemed to have a lot of taverns for such a small village, but nothing like what she needed.

Still, every village had the type of bar where the lowest of the low hung out and nobody was particularly interested in who came and went. Eventually, she found such a place and, when she entered, it was indeed the type of dive she had been looking for. The lights were dim, the air stale with tobacco and spilt beer, and nobody bothered looking up when she entered.

Satisfied, she slipped past the tables to the dirty bar, where she was greeted by the bartender, who gave her a rather lecherous smile. Anko dismissed that, however, more intent on the hand that her training told her was on its way toward her ass. Now, she could have reacted like Kurenai would have -grabbed the hand and broken it- or she could ignore it, which is exactly what she did.

Which resulted in an expected dark glare from a common village girl-never mind that she wanted to break his neck- then she turned her attention from the amused drunk and faced the bartender.

"So, what can I get you, pretty lady?"

Giving an even more loathsome glare to the bartender, she slapped her money on the counter. "Sake. Strong."

The bartender, picking up on her dangerous vibe, produced the bottle and cup in an instant, and then moved away toward a less-threatening woman. Snorting, Anko grabbed her purchase and walked over to an isolated table where she dropped into her seat and poured herself a drink.

Honestly, the things she did for Konoha...

Anko wasn't sure how long she sat there, watching and waiting, until she finally found her target. The target in this case was a boy with shaggy hair and dirty clothes, who hurried into the building and made a bee-line for the bartender. "Do you have have any jobs for me Hachiro-san?"

"Yes, actually, Benrai-kun. I need you too run to Souzen-sama for me and ask him nicely if he would mind paying his bill today."

Finishing her sake quickly, Anko climbed to her feet and left, ducking into a side alley to await the boy's departure. Seconds later, grumbling and hurrying, Benrai came hustling out of the bar and started off down the streets. Anko moved to the rooftops and set off after him, being careful to remain unnoticed.

* * *

"You call that a punch!" Naruto shouted, sidestepping the blow from the frustrated looking boy and then ducked a kick from the other one. "Come on, I thought you guys were ninja!"

It was an old tactic, one that Naruto had employed for years during his pranks, but that Anko had only recently named as the 'NA-NA-NA-NA-NA Approach'. Regardless of what it was called, it worked perfectly, with each taunt the two Genin he was fighting were getting sloppier and sloppier.

"Oi, anyone else feel a breeze?" Naruto taunted once more, jumping this time to avoid a wild swing.

Only this time the move backfired and he was caught in a surprise attack of kunai from one of the ninja. Both ninja seemed to watch in satisfaction as Naruto came back into contact with the ground, as a now limp form surrounded by a pool of blood. Then Naruto promptly went 'poof'!

Both of course seemed disturbed by that turn of events, at least until they were sent crashing to the ground by a sharp blow to the back of the head.

"Huh, guess it was just me," Naruto said dusting his hands off before crouching down to riffle thorugh the two unconcious ninja's pockets, taking their money. It wasn't like they needed it, plus all this fighting was making him hungry. Standing upright he blinked, feeling yet another couple of clones go 'poof' giving him the knowledge that as of now all the teams were neutralized.

Grinning he chuckled, unable to believe that these stupid guys had all fallen for his 'challenges'. Sweet kami, only a total moron would actually walk up to each team and demand to fight them! Now, a team of Kage Bunshin with heavy usage of the Meisai Gakure, was a different story.

Shaking his head Naruto stretched, looked up at the sky then sighed. Well, now that he was done with the Genin teams, he wasn't sure what to do. Shrugging he walked to the edge of the wall and jumped to the ground, landing adoritly in the small alley created between the wall and buildings.

Walking in a random direction, Naruto considered the unconcious Genin and wondered at the ease with which he had won. Actually, in every encounter none of the Genin had manage to even hit him, despite the fact that some of them were decently trained. It was almost like he was above them the same way that Anko was above him.

Frowning Naruto stopped in the middle of the alley and crossed his arms, considering that development. Well, if it was true then that meant he'd have no trouble with the Chūnin Exam's that Hayate had told them about. It also meant he was that much closer to Hokage. Being this strong had its benefits.

He was snapped out of his musing however by the sound of a footstep behind him. Spinning Naruto avoided the first slash of kunai easily enough and spared a moment on his opponent, who appeared to be a year older and sporting a scratched forehead protector.

Then the boy attacked once more and Naruto avoided this one as well, but his stomach was knotting itself up, knowing without reason that this would have to end in bloodshed and death. Naruto didn't want to do it, he tried to think of some other way to end this, but he couldn't.

On the next lunge, Naruto took a step forward while ducking to the right, while his arm swept back at an angle and drove the kunai into the side of the boy's throat. Naruto expected to see a training dummy like last time, this time all he saw was the other boys face twisted into an expression of surprise and terror.

He watched with what felt like a mixture of professional interest and loathing as the blood splattered the wall behind the boy and the way the body slummed from the blow and weight. Pulling his kunai free with a sicking 'plop' he cleaned it, then returned it to his forearm holster before looking at the body at his feet.

"Why didn't you just leave me alone," Naruto muttered, Anko's words from the forest in Kusa rattling around in his head.

A moment later it dawned on him that he didn't know what to do with the body, Anko had never prepared him for this type of situation. He couldn't just leave it there, even he knew the problems with that, and he didn't want to just hide it under some boxes. That would just be wrong.

After several minutes of trying to figure out what to do, while dealing with his feelings and what Anko had told him, he decided on his course of action. It took only a minute to create two Kage Bunshin and another few to tell them to take the body out of the village and bury it. Then after they were gone, with the body in tow, he turned and headed to the streets of the village.

He paused, looking around at all the people, felt the wind on his face and the sun on his neck. It was odd, he had done exactly as Anko had taught him, had done the best thing he could for his mission, yet unlike Kusa he felt nowhere near the same amount of guilt.

Like Anko had said, it was part of the job and it was shocking just how little effort it took for him to hide what he did feel behind his mask of carefree innocence.

He had been forced to take yet another life, but so what? They were ninja, they killed, even Hokage's.

"Hmm, what now?" Naruto mused looking around in a careless way that would have done Anko proud. Then snapping his fingers, he thrust a finger into the air and proclaimed in a voice that he usually reserved for drawing attention and expressing excitement. "RAMEN!"

That shouted he started off, a spring in his step and a smile stretched across his face.

After all when Naruto started a game of pretend, he never stopped.

* * *

Anko moved quietly, with all of the stealth of the expert assassin that she was. Which was a nice change of pace really; after spending so much time training Naruto, it was just nice to go back to what she was truly gifted at, her art. Even if she couldn't kill Souzen, she could maim him and, at the very least, she got to practice.

Grinning, she landed noiselessly on the roof across from a three-story building, and watched the boy she had been following hurry up the stairs to knock. Her grin slipped a notch, however, when nobody answered, and the boy began beating on the door, before letting out a loud curse and storming off.

For some reason, the lack of activity filled her with a sense of dread. Jumping from her perch, she landed adroitly on the street and approached the door, then, checking to see if anyone was around, she used a kunai to pry the door open. Stepping inside the building, she hesitated, her finely tuned senses telling her that something was off in a bad way.

Moving quietly, she checked the entire first floor, then, slipping up the stairs -careful to not step on a board that looked as if it was about to creak- she checked the second floor. The rooms were clean; they even looked moderately lived in but there was nobody around.

Of course, the Genin were busy, probably getting their asses kicked by Naruto, but still, there should have been someone to answer the door.

Even Souzen himself.

Frowning, she moved toward the bottom of the second flight of stairs, only to pause. Kneeling, she reached out and touched the dark liquid she had noticed, assuring herself that it was, indeed, blood. Her muscles tightened as she studied it, and then she looked up, straining her eyes to see the dim landing. Yes, there was a body up there, and from the angle it looked pretty bad.

Hurrying up the stairs, she found that the body belonged to a boy, a year or so older than Naruto whose throat had been slit. Eye's darting around the floor, she didn't find a hint of a fight, which meant this boy had been taken by surprise.

Taking a moment to shut the now-glassy eyes, she paused, studying his features: there was very little decay or smell. Plus, the blood was still wet, which meant this was a recent kill. "Souzen!" Anko hissed at the realization that, if this was what she thought, then he was probably dead or dying.

Relying on her instincts, she darted for the far room and then skidded to a halt, biting back a curse. There was Souzen, lying in a pool of his own blood. Anko quickly assessed the room, noting that there had been a brief fight, probably a last-second attempt on Souzen's behalf.

Entering the room, she knelt, frowning. Whoever had done this, knew she had been nearby and had purposely avoided assassination jutsu. This had been a professional job, thought out to the last little detail, which meant an ANBU who specialized in assassination.

"Which means, Unity is a whole lot more dangerous than we thought."

"You have no idea."

Anko reacted instantly, spinning around toward the voice as a kunai fell into her hand. When she realized it was Kakashi, there was a moment in which she was about to kill him anyway -after all, there was no conceivable way that he should have been there- but she realized that, if whoever had killed Souzen had wanted to kill her, he would have just done it.

"Yo," the white-haired man said, giving a two-fingered salute even as he entered the room completely.

"How'd you get here?"

"They don't call me a genius for nothing," the masked commander remarked, reaching into his hip pouch and tossing her the small pack he took out. "You know what to do right?"

"Yeah," Anko grumbled, putting her weapon away. "I still want to know how you got here."

"I used the Shunshin no Jutsu; how else?" the man remarked casually as he leaned against the wall near the window.

"The Shunshin...no Jutsu..." Anko repeated in disbelief. "You traveled almost one hundred miles using that? Impossible! The Shunshin no jutsu only works over a short distance."

"Ah," Kakashi said, raising a finger, his single eye closing in a happy curve. "It depends on the amount of chakra you have at your disposal, as well as the distance and elevation. Since I have a large amount of chakra, and the elevation was level, all that really mattered was the distance."

"So, you used several shorter trips to cover the distance instead of just one long trip, which really would have been impossible." Anko said, then frowned. "But doing that...you would have used up almost all of your chakra."

"Which is why I brought soldier pills."

"Ah." Anko smirked, turning to the body. "You do know that if you take enough your balls will shrink, right?" At the prolonged silence that greeted her statement, Anko chuckled, setting to work on the body. "So did you see who got this bastard?"

"No," Kakashi said, his tone hinting at annoyance. "I arrived about ten minutes ago, right around when Naruto picked his first fight."

"Ah,"

"Speaking of which," Kakashi responded casually, "what exactly have you been teaching that boy?"

"Why, did he scare you?" Anko asked teasingly, busy fingerprinting the body for later identification.

"I ask because that's not a Genin," Kakashi said blandly. "That's a ninja being trained speifically for assassination. Hebi Style from the way my Sharigan kept losing track of him during the fights, Meisaigakure no Jutsu and I think he tried the Kanashibari no Jutsu."

"Hmm, guess the Shihōhappō Shuriken and Fūton: Daitoppa were a bit much to use in the village," Anko muttered as she put the finger prints away and began to place seals on the body for transportation. "Did you get to see his mysterious grass jutsu? He won't let me see it at all!"

"No," Kakashi said. "How'd he learn a grass jutsu?"

"The Shoushi of Kusa gave him something that looked like a jutsu scroll." Anko explained with a shrug.

"Well still, nothing you've taught him should be taught to a Genin."

"He's got a knack for it," Anko explained, without really explaining, while turning to face the copy cat ninja as she sealed the body into a scroll that she tossed to him him. "You never did tell me why you came all this way."

"Well," Kakashi leaned forward, eye alight with a unique seriousness. "Confidentially, Anko, you never asked why I came all this way."

"..." Anko blinked then slapped her forehead. "You've just been waiting to say that to someone, haven't you."

"Maybe," Kakashi admitted in amusement before turning serious. "As for why I'm here, it concerns Unity and the Yondaime's Legacy."

"The Yondaime's Legacy?" Anko repeated before blinking. "What does that have to do with Unity? Wait, how exactly do you know even more about Unity?"

"It's complicated," Kakashi said, crossing his arms. "Bascially I set a varation of the 'Canary Trap' and we stumbled across a Unity member."

"Who?"

"Shiden, From the Tentoujouhou Department." Kakashi explained darkly.

"Shiden; why am I not surprised?" Anko Said climbing to her feet, almost unsurprised at the fact that the spy would be from the unit in ANBU that specialized in information. "So, what, exactly, are they after and how's it involve whatever this Yondaime Legacy is?"

"Their primary goal is to unite the Country of Fire and Konoha under one banner, one ruler: the Hokage."

"Well, that's a give me." Anko remarked.

"True, but they're also targeting all relatives of current and fromer Hokages." Kakashi explained, eye narrowing slightly. "Shiden didn't know why or for what purpose, but somehow I doubt its to give them sweets."

"Maybe to use the vast public and what little politic weight they carry?" Anko suggested with a frown. "After all, getting realtives of former Hokages to join behind your goal of unification would be a good idea."

"Possible," Kakashi admitted. "It's also possible to control the Hokage by using them as hostages, the Sandaime would be unable to act agasint them if they were threatening his grandson, or one of the former Hokage's realtives."

"Yeah," Anko scowled before sighing. "But you still haven't told me what the Yondaime's Legacey is, or how it effects Unity or why it brought you all the way out here."

"...Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Kakashi Version!" the masked jonin said creating six Kage Bunshin before sending them out to secure the building and apply anti-spying seals. That finished he cleared his throat and fixed her with a serious gaze. "I'll tell you, but you can not mention this. Ever. Not even to Naruto."

"Fine, fine," Anko waved a hand, serious though she was hiding it with non-chalance. What could be this important that the ANBU Commander would go to this much trouble to secure an entire building. Also, why did he forbid her to tell this to Naruto, what could he have to do with what she was about hear?

"The Yondaime Hokage...had a realtive," Kakashi said slowly, his voice tight. "A son. Because of Unity and the unsecure natrue of this building, the only way to refer to him was the Yondaime's Legacy."

"Whoa," Anko said, realzing why he had been so anxious to get her and would seal the building so securely. This was major news and it was personal, the Yondaime had been important to the masked ninja. "So...he's in the village?"

"For the moment," Kakashi answered, crossing his arms and tilting his head. "You do remember where they discovered the Yondaime, correct?"

"Huh? Yeah, at Cherunobuiri Hospital, the one that was attacked after the Kyūbi-" Anko paused, a frown marring her features as suddenly everything he had said and she knew connected at break neck speed. "Wait...he was in nursery, and Naruto- but they couldn't-"

"During the exam, Kiyoshi-san ran the Heredity Test." Kakashi fixed her with an intense stare. "We know Naruto's mother obviously had to have died at birth and the father was obviously in the battle against the Kyūbi-"

"And the only logical reason the Yondaime was in the nursery...was to see his son." Anko finished in a daze. "Oh...fuck."

"That's what the Hokage said,"

"Well, at least nobody knows, right?"

"For the moment," Kakashi agreed. "Hokage-sama will probably suppress the test until Naruto's been told, and I'm going to see if I can talk him out of revealing it until we can find Jiriaya or stop Unity..."

Anko nodded in understanding and then snapped her fingers, smirking as she remembered what had propmted the herdity test in the first place. "So, was I right?" Kakashi sighed in response and lowered his head, which Anko correctly took as admitting that she was right and Naruto did have a bloodline ability. "AHA! I knew it!"

"We should get back to Konoha..."

"Not until you admit I was right!" Anko said gleefully, then watched as he shook his head and pushed off the wall heading for the door. Pouting, Anko went after him, her voice excited. "Say it! KAKASHI, YOU BASTARD! SAY THAT I WAS RIGHT!"

* * *

"Here ya go Naruto,"

The blond in question grinned, stacking his currently empty bowl in the second stack he had started. Bowing he offered a thank you and dove into yet the next servering of the steamingly delcious ramen. True while it was not Ichiraku ramen by any stretch of the imagination it was still some prety damn good stuff and...they had over ninty-nine varities!

So far the first seventy-five had been great and as he slurpped his latest serving down he rounded that number up to seventy-six. Looking up he grinned at the amused husband and wife, Tsubaki Toshiro and Aimi -newlyweds who wanted three children two boys and one girl-, and saluted with his chopsticks. "Oi, another winner!"

"Haha!" Toshiro said, kissing his wife's cheek happily. "You were right dear,"

"Of course," Aimi said grinning as she turned to the menu "So, lets see...we only have twenty-three more to go, so which one do you want to try next Naruto-kun?"

Slurrping the noodles up he grinned at the woman deep in thought. "I'm not sure how about-"

"Why am I not surprised?" A new voice suddenly said from the entrance.

Naruto turned, eyes widening slightly as he spotted Anko and then Kakashi. Still he couldn't help but grin at the woman, she was after all sort of smirking. "Anko!"

"Yeah, hey runt..." The Jōnin returned casually eyeing the two stacks of empty bowls. "Yeesh, did you eat everything on the menu?"

"Not yet," Toshiro said happily from behind the counter. "He's only got twenty-three more to go."

"Oi, wait a minute..." Naruto suddenly interjected blinking as he looked at Kakashi once more. "What's he doing here?"

"His job," Anko said blandly, crossing her arms. "So I take it you finished yours?"

"Huh?" Naurto blinked then grinned slupping down his remaining noodles. "Yeah, no biggie!"

"Hmm, Anko..I didn't know you had enough money to afford all this." Kakashi suddenly interjected as if finally noticing the bowls.

"Oi, I paid in advance." Naruto interjected, glaring at the man slightly. "Shouldn't you be out reading a naughty book in public?"

Kakashi looked at him.

Naruto looked back.

Kakashi stared.

Naruto shivered, feeling the killing intent raidiating from the man.

"So, anyway ya runt time to get a move on..." Anko said as if she was perfectly oblvious to the murdereous feelings Kakashi was sending to Naruto.

"Awwww, do I gotta go?" Naruto pleaded, his attention suddenly diverted away from his immeinate death. Seeing her glare he sighed, turning back to the slightly disappointed looking couple. "I gotta go guys...but, but, I'll be back to try those other twenty-three flavors! I promise."

Aimi smiled and leaned over kissing his forehead fondly. "We'll be here Naruto-kun," Toshiro nodded his agreement as Naruto finished his noddles and then joined Anko and Kakashi as they left the ramen stand. None of the ninja in question said a word, just walked almost as if they were a family of some sort, until they were beyond the walls of the village.

"Ok, so where'd you get the money for all that ramen?" Anko asked curiously.

"Hehehe, those Genin I beat up." Naruto answered brightly,"figured it was the least they could do for me, cause I worked up an appitate you wouldn't believe!"

"I know, I can remember this one time in waterfall when I was still in the ANBU and I had to take out this missing-nin and his groupies. Sweet kami, I was starving by the time I was done and well they weren't using their money anytime soon," Anko said grinning. "My captain said that was a bad habit though, at least until I bought him a book..."

"Which she promptly destroyed." Kakashi deadpanned. "Don't let her fool you Naruto, Anko has no sense of taste when it comes to litature."

Naruto blinked, staring between the two older ninja and then frowned. It took a few minutes to put the conversation into context, but suddenly he realized that these two had known each other for a long time and that he could picture just what kind of book it had been.

He was even preparing to make a joke until he realized that they were not heading for the captured Genin. "Oi, where are we going?"

"Back to Konoha, the samurai can handle the Genin," Kakashi answered with a pleasent upturning of his eye. "unless you want to miss the Chūnin exams...and risk having that Yamanaka girl castrate you."

"Hmm, the more I hear about that girl the more I like her." Anko interjected with obvious amusement.

Naruto however was just staring with wide eyed horror at the concept of what he was now facing. It wasn't bad enough he had Anko trying to make him less than a man, but now apparently he had to worry about Ino wanting to do the same thing. That was honestly the last thing he needed, two pyshco girls.

"Relax, Naruto...she prefers verbally castration from what I hear. Unlike Anko." The white haired man said in amusement.

"True," Anko grinned, looking at Kakashi and Naruto in that distrubingly pleasent way she had. "Want me to demonstrate?"

Both men shook their heads 'no!' rapidly, looking terrfied.

Anko just pouted.

* * *

AN:

1) The Bloodline bit...Yeah, Naruto does NOT have a bloodline. However, since nobody knows about the Kyuubi or his effect on Naruto's body, they ASSUME it has to be a bloodline. Now the name of the ASSUMED bloodline 'Tenkeichiyu' roughly translates into 'Heavenly Gift of Healing'.

There are actually several translations for the word 'Tenkei', most invovling heaven or divine (there is one that is along the lines of 'Heavenly punishsment') and 'chiyu' which means simply 'heal/cure/recover'.

2) MAJOR EDIT Those of you that read this as of 8-25-07 will remember that I orginally had the Yondaime and Naruto related as brothers (same mom, but different dads'). However, since the manga FINALLY deemed it time to share not that his dad is his CANON father, but his mothers name -along with a load of other info invovling her, ugh- I felt I had to go back and correct this.

Which in the long run delays the updating of this fic as I must now go through and edit every instance invovling Naruto and his relationship to the Yondaime...I must now also explain away the mysterious fact that nobody KNEW this and treated him better. (Unlike the manga which seems utterly uninterested int he fact that the son of their Greatest Hero was abused, neglected and suffered other horrors for the first tweleve years of his life)

Anyway, this chapter has been updated to reflect the change...and all explinations will be eventually be given in due time.

3) Kakashi did not assassinate Souzen.


	14. Chapter 13: Of Family and Training

**Altered History  
**Chapter 13:  
_-Of Family and Training-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

The Sandaime dozed fitfully behind his desk, his joints stiff and sore. It had been one of his favorite pastimes when he had first become Hokage, but now it was painful. Giving up on his nap, he opened his eyes, staring at his empty office and feeling the crushing weight more than ever. 

This was not his time: he was not supposed to be Hokage. Kami, it wasn't fair...He was tired and sore. He shook the feelings off quickly. What was pain to him now but a constant companion? He was Hokage, and it was pointless to complain about things that couldn't be changed.

The Yondaime was dead. That was karma.

Anko had risked Naruto's life. That was karma.

Speaking of Naruto and Anko, according to Kakashi they were supposed to be returning today. Looking at the clock on the dwall, he raised an eyebrow, watching the minutes tick past. Sighing, he shook his head. They should have been here an hour ago. A moment later, Kakashi and the other two entered, and the Sandaime sighed. Of course, the Copy Cat ninja would be in the lead, and of course the entire group would be late.

Naruto blinked, looking around, and Anko rolled her eyes.

"Ahh, Kakashi-san, Naruto-kun... Anko-san," Sandaime said, then, noticing Anko's wince, fixated on Naruto. "Ahh, would you mind sitting down, Naruto-kun? We have something rather important to discuss."

The blond blinked uncertainly, then, glancing at Anko, moved to the chair in front of the Sandaime's desk and sat down. "Okay, ya billy goat, what'cha wanna talk about?"

The Sandaime blinked, then shook his head, allowing the casualness to slide for the moment. Far more important problems were going on at the moment. "Naruto," Sandaime said, clearing his throat as he stared at the blond ninja across from him.

He paused for a moment, realizing that there really was no other word to describe him. Sandaime had seen those eyes before, the set of that jaw. Everything screamed ninja. For the first time, he seriously began to consider the boy's potential as a possible successor.

Ah, the Yondaime would have been so proud...

"Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, interrupting his stroll down memory lane.

"Huh? Oh, yes, sorry..." the Sandaime said, berating himself for going off into his memories. Shifting his attention back to the curious boy, he sighed, lacing his fingers together. "Naruto, before anything else, I just want to say... I'm proud of you. You seem to be growing up; Just a few months ago, you'd have been pulling some wild prank or causing a ruckus, and now...Well, instead of a troublemaker, I have a ninja standing in front me."

"Er...well, thanks," Naruto said, sounding pleased even as he scratched at his cheek absently.

"Now, then," Sandaime said seriously, lowering his eyes to a folder on his desk. "You remember that you under went an exam not too long ago, correct?"

"Huh, yeah!" Naruto growled. "That bastard-"

"Kiyoshi-san did exactly as his job required," Sandaime interrupted seriously, looking up at the blond. "It is the exam, however, that I wish to discuss. Naruto, have you ever... noticed anything odd about yourself? Like how fast you heal?"

"No...I heal like everyone else, right?"

Sandaime exchanged a glance with Kakashi, then chuckled. "Not quite. Actually, most people would love to heal the way you do."

"Wow, well, that's sorta neat..." Naruto said, blinking. "So, can I go train now? 'Cause I want Anko to show me some more wind jutsu-"

"In a minute," Sandaime interrupted, then paused, considering how best to reveal this information. Maybe not all the details, as it would confuse the poor boy, and nothing about the Yondaime for obvious reasons. Then he realized that he had the easiest way to explain things right before him. "You know about bloodlines, correct?"

"Er... Iruka-sensei mentioned them once, I think," Naruto said with a shrug. "I kinda slept through that class..."

"Well, okay," Sandaime said, drumming his fingers against his desk. "Okay, within the world of ninja, there are certain abilities. These are called Family Abilities and Advanced Bloodlines. Family Abilities are skills or jutsu that can be taught."

"Oi, like how Anko's teaching me?"

"Exactly," Sandaime said with a nod. "Only, the Family Abilities aren't taught outside of a family and are very jealously guarded. Advanced Bloodlines, on the other hand, they can't be taught at all. They have to be inherited and are unique to only certain families."

"You mean like... how the Uchiha all have that weird eye thing?"

"The Sharingan," Sandaime said, smiling slightly. "Yes, now then... These Advanced Bloodlines are frowned upon by some people."

"Well that's stupid-"

"Yes, it is." Sandaime nodded. "So, Konoha is seen as a refuge for Advanced Bloodlines, since we openly embrace them. Even encourage them...But some, by the time they reach us, are already dying out, and we can do nothing to stop this. Sometimes, only a single child from these 'Lost Clans' will have the ability and never know it. Most often, these become villagers, and the bloodline disappears."

"Okay," Naruto said slowly. "So, why are you telling me about all of that?"

"Haven't you ever wondered, Naruto-kun," Kakashi suddenly said from his spot near the wall, "why exactly you came through that incident in the hospital? Even as an enemy plant you should have died..."

"Well, yeah, but..." Naruto trailed off, frowning.

"In the exam you took, among other tests, is one to locate Advanced Bloodlines," Sandaime continued seriously. "We found one, though there are no previous records of the ability..."

"...I have... an Advanced Bloodline?"

"Yes," Sandaime said, leaning back in his seat. "It's called the Tenkeichiyu. It's a rather handy ability, too. Provided you don't take an attack that kills you immediately, you'll live through pretty much anything. We think." Sandaime explained, then paused, watching the boy closely.

He could see the surprise and the fear washing over his face. Then the anger, and then a sort of calm that had him slightly worried. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Oi, I'm fine," Naruto said, looking at him in that carefree way of his. "Can I go now?"

"Yes," Sandaime said, sitting forward. "Naruto, one thing...Your 'ability', I would caution against talking about it with too many people. Maybe only the ones you trust most..."

"Oi, I'm not Sasuke!" Naruto said indignantly before jumping to his feet and bolting for the door. "Later!"

The Sandaime stared after him for a moment, worried, then shook it off, looking at Anko. She looked slightly worried, but when she looked at him, he saw the familiar defiant fire in her eyes. "You shouldn't have let him go."

"Maybe," Sandaime said blandly. "Anko-san, tell me something. What made Naruto so important that you'd kidnap him out of the village for a mission?

"Huh?"

"Well, I was just wondering," Sandaime said with a shrug. "After all, you never asked for permission. Never cleared it with Hayate-san, who could have had a mission or team training planned. You merely took the boy out of the village, on a mission he was not cleared for..."

"But he did fine!" Anko said heatedly. "Better than fine!"

"Yes," Sandaime said tiredly. "But that is not the point. You showed poor judgment and risked his life needlessly. That isn't the point either. I entrusted you with that mission, and for you to act so rashly..."

"But-"

"Anko-san, please. I am tired, and it's been a long day. I would appreciate it if you left." He saw the various emotions on her face and then watched as she stood, turned, and walked out of the office. Turning to Kakashi, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Fetch Kiyoshi-san."

"Yes," Kakashi said seriously. "I do think you were a bit harsh. I mean, your original goal was to get Anko and Naruto to heal each other and, on the way back, she was almost normal. I'd even say a sister to him."

"Yes," Sandaime said, feeling a chill race along his spine. "I am aware of that, and by first denying her access and then questioning her judgment toward him, I am making her aware of how important he is to her. Which will pull them closer together."

"Ah," Kakashi said simply.

"Yes, now, Kioyshi-san please."

Nodding, Kakashi hurried out of the room, allowing the Sandaime to relax and massage his chest. He was no doctor, but he could feel the sands in the hour glass falling more rapidly than ever.

* * *

One of the first things Shino's father had taught him was that the Aburame were not the masters of the bugs that lived inside them. It was a partnership, almost a marriage, and that to abuse one's Kikaichu family was the same as abusing one's wife or child. To complicate matters, there was the emotional and mental connection between host and bugs, which could effect the relationship. 

This was the reason behind the curious, and slightly worrisome, near-constant placid state all Aburame maintained.

Keeping all of this mind, Shino had set out a week ago reestablish the trust and balance in his relationship with his Kikaichu family. It had been a strained and tedious affair, but finally they were working as one once more, though they were still a tad skittish.

Still, as he concentrated and sent his desire to form a wall, they responded quickly. Finally able to perform the Mushi Kabe no Jutsu without falling apart, Shino allowed them a moment to rest. Sitting under a tree once more, he quietly considered everything that had happened since gaining Naruto as a teammate. Some of it was hard to fathom, some of it easy, and he was still no closer to answering his original concern about the affect of Naruto's chakra on his family.

None of them could even suggest an explanation, and his father, when they had briefly spoken, had been unhelpful.

Shaking it off, Shino climbed to his feet one last time, silently checking with his family that they were ready for this final exercise for the day. Receiving confirmation, he nodded and sent his desire to them. The bugs hesitated and then finally began to move -albeit slowly- into a vaguely humanoid shape. Satisfied with that, Shino cast the wordless Henge to create his own likeness over the bugs.

This stage of the Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu cleared, he took a moment to catch his breath and then nodded slightly. "Let's begin."

The Mushi clone nodded in response and charged toward him with a basic round kick, which caught Shino by surprise. The stoic ninja merely went with the blow as he had learned, performing a side roll before regaining his feet with just enough time to catch the incoming punch from the Mushi clone. This was followed by a hooking leg sweep, which took out the clone's feet and sent it crashing into the earth.

A minute later, the clone became once more his Kikaichu family, all of whom were quite pleased with the brief match. Shino himself shared their sentiment, congratulating them as they all made their way back to their home in his body. While not instantaneous like his father's, it was effective and it would improve over time.

Looking around, he took a breath, then exhaled, wondering what he should do now that they had re-established trust between them. He could practice even more, but he felt that would be overtaxing for both them and himself, which meant he should go back to the Aburame home and read through the family scrolls. It would be best to know and understand as much as he could, even if the library had been severely damaged during the Kyûbi's attack.

Nodding, with hands in his pockets, he started back toward his house.

* * *

For some reason the village looked different to him, almost unreal. Naruto wasn't sure why or how; all he knew was that it was different. The vendors were all around, talking loudly, a few shooting him dark glares, others ignoring him. 

Yet, it was all so different and strange.

He had a bloodline.

Huh, he could slit that man's throat without breaking a sweat.

What had his father been like? His mother?

He could rob that shop keeper and never be caught.

Did he have brothers? Where was his family? Dead? Had they just abandoned him?

He had a bloodline.

His thoughts were disrupted when he ran into something solid, which sent him tumbling on his ass. Looking up with a glare, ready to shout at whatever had done that to him, he found himself staring up at Iruka.

The scarred Chûnin blinked and looked down, surprise on his face. "Naruto?"

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto managed, realizing just how long it had actually been since he had seen the older man.

"Wow," Iruka said, holding a hand out to help him up. "It's been a while. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though, huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto said noncommittally, then remembered to smile brightly. "I'm getting really strong and awesome! I'll be Hokage soon, no doubt!"

Iruka raised an eyebrow and then smiled back, reaching out to muss his hair fondly. "I bet you will be."

For some reason, Naruto felt the smile on his face become more natural, despite the fact that he used to hate having that done. Then he blinked, realizing what time it was. "Oi, aren't you suppose to be teaching class?"

"Well, actually," Iruka said, scratching the side of his nose, "I'm just waiting for my latest teaching assistant to get the kids together. We're having class outside today,"

"Ah," Naruto said, crossing his arms as he nodded. He had turned and taken two steps when Iruka grabbed the back of his jacket and held him in place. "Oi, let me go!"

"Hold on," Iruka said, a smirk on his face. "You know, I was just thinking about who to ask to speak to the class today."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, twisting around to stare at the man in befuddlement. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I know you slept and skipped class a lot," Iruka said reproachfully, "but you do remember when we had the Hokage come by to talk to you, right? Or that time we got Haruno-san?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, his memory hazy on the exact details. "Oi, didn't they talk to us about... uh, being ninja or something?"

"Exactly," Iruka said releasing his jacket. "This time, I was thinking about getting someone closer to the age of the students... A recently graduated Genin."

Naruto blinked, then felt a chill race up his spine as suspicion crept into his mind. Iruka couldn't want him... but why... No, Naruto was just imagining it. Besides, what could he say to a bunch of...not that Iruka was actually meaning that he wanted him to... Oh kami, this was not a good idea.

"So, what do you think?" Iruka said, his smirk now a grin.

"...What the hell would I say?"

Iruka shrugged, but his grin never faded. "Just talk to them, explain what it's like being a ninja."

Naruto frowned, kicking at the ground absently. This was the last thing he needed or wanted to do. Maybe if he hadn't just found out about his bloodline... It was all too complicated, too confusing and... hurtful. He would never admit it out loud, but this entire ordeal had reopened the raw wounds concerning his family. Still, looking at Iruka, he couldn't bring himself to say no. After all, Iruka had been the first one to really acknowledge him as a ninja.

He owed it to the older man.

"Okay," Naruto finally said.

Iruka patted his shoulder and nodded. "Great, I really appreciate this. Come on, we don't want to be late."

Both walked in silence for several minutes, before Iruka checked his watch. "We need to hurry, come on..." The man took off, and Naruto followed, lost in thoughts about his family and what exactly he was getting himself into. Twenty minutes later, they were bounding from roof to roof before spying the rooftop of the academy.

Naruto landed adroitly next to Iruka, eying the class almost warily. Had it really been just a few months ago that he had been in the academy? It seemed like a lifetime ago: meeting Anko, Kusa, meeting his new team and dealing with the Kumo-iki, Unity and soon... the Chûnin exams.

It just seemed impossible that all of that could have happened in just a little over two months.

"I promised you guys something special," Iruka was saying to the interested looking class. "Well, not only are we having class outside today, but I've asked someone to speak with y-"

"Hey!" a voice suddenly shouted, followed by a familiar brown haired runt jumping to his feet to point at Naruto. "How dare you show your face here!"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking away from the faces on the mountain to stare at the child. "Oi, aren't you..."

"The ninja that is going to defeat you!" the boy shouted and then darted forward, a kunai flashing from somewhere, his scarf fluttering behind him.

Naruto naturally reacted the only way he could: he promptly brought his foot up and let the kid slam face first into it. Looking at the now dazed boy, he blinked and snapped his fingers in recognition. "Oi, it's Konohamaru!"

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted.

"What?" Naruto asked defensively. "He's the one that charged me with a weapon! He's lucky I didn't force feed it to him."

"That's the Sandaime's grandson!" Iruka shouted, looking horrified.

"I know," Naruto blinked, then looked back down at a recovering Konohamaru. "Oi, didn't I tell you the next time you charged me I was going to kill you?"

Konohamaru blinked, then hopped to his feet. "Ahhha, that was just a test, niisan! As my rival, I had to make sure that you were not getting rusty."

Naruto blinked.

Konohamaru blinked.

"...go sit yer ass down,"

"I will-" Konohamaru never finished his sentence since Naruto bashed him on top of his head, which knocked him on his ass.

"OI! Are you deaf?"

"NARUTO!" Iruka shouted, but the blond merely shrugged, while Konohamaru rubbed at his head. Breathing heavily, the scared Chûnin turned back to the shocked class and continued firmly. "I've asked Naruto to talk with you about being ninja. He's a recent graduate and he's preparing for the Chûnin Exam."

"And I'm going to be the next Hokage!" Naruto added firmly.

"What?!" Konohamaru shouted, jumping to his feet. "You can't be the next Hokage!"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

"...Idiot! Who'd acknowledge a punk like you?" Naruto asked, bashing him on the head again.

"Oww!" Konohamaru shouted rubbing at his head.

"Well, becoming Hokage isn't that hard. Especially if you take shortcuts," a boy said, sounding smug.

"Oi, you're an even bigger idiot than Konohamaru," Naruto interrupted, glaring at the boy. "Hokage is the name of the greatest ninja in the village. If you just think it's going to be easy, then you'll never be Hokage. There are no shortcuts."

"There's always shortcu-"

"No, there isn't," Naruto said, clenching his fist. "Whoever thinks like that should give up on being a ninja right now."

"Why?" a girl asked anxiously, glancing at the boy who had just been talking.

"Because, even if being Hokage isn't your dream, being a ninja requires dedication and hard work," Naruto said, his memory flashing to the countless times Anko had broken his arm. "You'll get hurt, and you'll bleed... But, you have to keep going. You'll have to do things that you don't want to, hard things, and if you take a shortcut, then you'll never get anywhere."

"Naruto-san," the shy girl said, raising her hand yet again and then, seeing she had his attention, continued with her question. "What's the hardest thing you've ever had to do?"

Naruto paused, then looked all of them over before looking at the roof between his feet. The hardest thing he ever had to do? A flash of a ninja, barely older than himself, dying in a spray of blood filled his mind. "I killed someone."

At the collective murmurs, he looked up, raising his voice slightly. "It's part of being a ninja,"

"Was it hard?" another boy asked, curiosity in his voice.

"They say... the first time is the hardest, but it's not," Naruto said slowly, thinking about his experiences. "The first time is easy; it's over before you realize it, since you're not really thinking about it. The hard one is the second time. You think about what you're doing, you know that you're about to do it, and you do it anyway."

"Naruto-san," another boy asked, looking at the blond. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Naruto blinked, then frowned slightly. "No, it's part of being a ninja."

"I don't believe you."

"Talk to me," Naruto said, bristling slightly in anger, "after you've killed someone. It's very simple: either you accept that you'll have to kill, or you get killed."

"B-but I don't wanna!" a girl said, eyes wide. "Why should we have to... to kill each other?"

"Because," Naruto said in annoyance, crossing his arms, "if you don't, then who will?"

* * *

There were a lot of things Ino would never understand; for example, why the sky was blue, why clouds looked like marshmallows, why her mother sighed disappointedly every time she talked about a mission instead of cooking, Shino's obsession with bugs, or Naruto's fascination with orange and noodles. Mostly, though, Ino couldn't understand how she got herself into hopeless situations. 

As an example, there was the current situation of her kenjutsu training.

Oh, sure, at first, after Hayate's rather hardcore speech, it hadn't been so bad. For the first two days, Ino had found it fun and exciting: she worked on channeling chakra through her practice sword, the nine basic attacks, drawing and sheathing the sword quickly, basic footwork and even target practice.

All of that had been fine, perfectly understandable. Even the Chakra building and stamina exercises had been no problem.

On the third day, they had stepped up the training, putting all of what she had learned together in dozens of sparring matches. By the fourth day, she was exhausted every waking moment, and hungry almost all the time. Her hands stung, her legs and arms were swore, and, worst of all, she had yet to see a bath.

It was only through sheer determination that she had made it through that day and the next.

On the sixth day, she had been introduced to the basics again, but this time blindfolded. She still had bruises from the rocks she was supposed to be blocking. Now, on the seventh day she was once more sparring Hayate ,thankfully, without a blindfold. Or, more correctly, Ino was trying to hide from the insane man, nursing her injured left shoulder.

Apparently, Hayate did not believe in light taps. Or, at least, not what a sane person would consider a light tap.

So, Ino dearly wanted to know what in the hell had ever possessed her to put herself in this damn situation. Glancing at the sun while putting a hand on her shoulder, Ino let out a relieved breath. Just a few more hours and this part of her training would be over.

Chakra building and stamina training were cake walks when compared to this torture.

That was when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was more instinct than training that she managed a forward roll, hurting her shoulder even more, before regaining her feet while spinning around to see Hayate rebounding from the tree she had just been sitting against. This time, it was her training that allowed her to deflect his spinning slash and the next two chopping motions of his sword.

Pushing away, Ino grasped her sword with both hands, eyes never leaving the sick-looking man across from her. Moving slowly, almost catlike, she began to circle him and was disappointed to find that he was mirroring her perfectly. It became a game of waiting, of who would be impatient or confident enough to attack first and possibly end the fight.

Hayate moved first, darting forward almost faster than Ino could follow, his sword slashing downward at an angle. Ino managed to bring her sword up and around in a block, forcing the practice swords to swirl around until her sword spun free and she brought it back around in a heavy slash. Hayate, however, caught her sword with his own and held it in check, an impassive look on his face.

Disengaging, Ino quickly took two steps back, dropping her sword to knock Hayate's follow- up slash aside. Twirling her practice sword, finally feeling confident enough to do so, the kunoichi settled into a readied attack position, weapon held straight up in a double handed grip, and recentered herself.

Ino frowned, studying the man for any openings, only to find none. "Damn it," Ino whispered, and then rushed forward.

Hayate met her halfway through her rush, their practice swords clashing in whirling slashes, stabs and lunges. The two of them moved in a sort of dance, with Ino attempting to mirror the way that Hayate used his sword. Seeing a sudden opening, Ino lunged and then, when that was blocked, she spun with the momentum and came around in a low slash at her sensei's ankles, only to find nothing but air.

The man attacked from behind, and Ino spun just in time to block four rapid-fire attacks, grunting as the two blades crossed and each exerted their strength against the others.

"Better," Hayate said simply, looking tired as ever.

Ino merely grunted, then, pushing away, skipped backwards, blocking the three blows that followed her retreat. Panting, she shifted her grip on the sword, hands almost raw from the rough surface and the vibrations each blow caused.

Glaring at her sensei, Ino was annoyed to find him smiling at her.

Before she could even think about attacking, he beat her to the punch. Ino brought up the practice sword just in time to parry Hayate's first slash, then his sudden thrust at Ino's left thigh. Backing away, Ino cursed under her breath, unable to believe his speed.

After several more minutes, Ino decided that, all things being equal, it was time to go on the offensive once more. Yelling, Ino feinted and lunged in with a quick one-two, which, sadly, Hayate parried effortlessly.

"You're dropping your right shoulder a bit," Hayate commented, his practice sword blocking a series of slashes aimed at his face and chest. Infuriated, she stepped up her attacks, feinting toward his chest and then, as he moved to block that, changed her attack so that she was slashing at his neck.

There was a loud crack as her blade stopped with a jarring force against his own.

Glancing at her blade, Hayate looked back at her, raising an eyebrow as if mildly impressed. Spinning suddenly, Ino made another lunge at his chest, yelling furiously. For one brief instant, Ino thought she would actually hit him, but then he pivoted on the ball of his foot and spun around so that he was behind her.

"Umm... you're over extending yourself," Hayate said causally and then, without further ado, pushed her from behind, sending her face -first into the dirt.

Ino lay there for a moment, almost willing herself to pass out, and then, sighing, climbed to her feet, turning to face him with her sword held tightly. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Nothing."

"I've been training for a week! That's seventy hours of nothing but kenjutsu!" Ino snapped, glaring at him. "I should be better than this!"

"Umm... Ino, you are better than you realize. In a little under a week, you've mastered the nine basic cuts and learned the first form of the basic Fire Country kenjutsu style," Hayate explained patiently. "You are actually very talented at kenjutsu. I'd almost say a genius."

"I should still be better," Ino fumed, turning her glare to the forest. She wasn't sure where that sentiment came from, but it was inside her, almost shouting it, and Ino knew it to be true.

"We have one week left," Hayate said, crouching down next to her. "Everything I've taught you so far is the typical Fire Country style. Flips, footwork and complicated sword patterns. As of now, I will teach you Tsuki Odori."

"Tsuki Odori?" Ino repeated turning to stare at her sensei.

"Yes, I created it because of my health. All it requires is control, precision and timing. There is no wasted movement, no wasted energy, no complicated footwork," Hayate said with a slight nod. "It grants almost total protection and allows you to attack at the most opportune moment. Nobody else has even been able to master a single dance, but I think you can."

"You do?" Ino blinked then frowned slightly. "A dance? Like, what good are dances?"

"Ninjutsu involving the sword," Hayate said standing up once more. "Hidden techniques that nobody else knows. There's only ten of them."

"And you think I can... learn them?"

"Yes, if you want to truly learn Tsuki Odori," Hayate said with a nod.

"So, what do these dances look like?"

In response, Hayate turned, then, in one fluid motion, lifted his sword, twisted it around, and dropped to one knee, driving the tip of the sword into the ground. "Dance of the Crashing Dragon!"

Ino felt the earth rumble under her slightly, then watched in amazement as the ground between Hayate and the post exploded. Shielding her face, Ino watched as best she could as the man stood upright once more and pulled his sword free from the earth.

It was amazing, it was mind blowing it was beyond anything Ino had ever seen.

She _had_ to learn how to do that!

When the dust finally settled, Hayate turned to stare at her, his face serious. "Umm... That Dance is considered C-rank and is a good distraction or interruption technique. You start by gathering your chakra into the blade of your sword and then you drive it into the ground and release."

"Seems easy enough," Ino couldn't help but remark before seeing the way he stared at her.

"How it seems and how it is are two different things," Hayate said before coughing into his hand for several minutes. When he finally stopped, he looked up at her, his face almost a grimace.

"Hayate-sensei, are you-" Ino started ask, moving toward him, only to stop short when he interrupted her.

"I'm fine," the man said, coughing once more into his cupped hand. "I've been sick for a long time, Ino; this is nothing... Uhmm, let's begin."

Ino nodded reluctantly, eying the man once more, and set to work. Still, she had a leaden feeling in her stomach that something was wrong with the whole situation.

* * *

Though nobody thought about it, Mitarashi Anko was an orphan. Even she rarely, if ever, thought about that fact since she was very much a 'now' person. The fact remained that Anko had grown up without a family for a good portion of her life, until Orochimaru had taken her under his guidance. 

That was why she was traveling from roof to roof; searching from the Hokage Mountain to that ramen stand he loved so much and hunted through the training fields. No orphan could be told anything about his or her family and not react, though the reaction itself would vary.

For Anko, after learning why her family had abandoned her, she had devoted herself completely to Orochimaru.

Naruto would react differently, but still she had to find and help him. Despite what the Hokage thought, he was more important to her than anything had been in a long time. So she was not about to let him freak out and try to handle this on his own.

Entering training area twenty-five, she paused at the rapid-fire sound of impact against nearly petrified wooden training posts. Unsurprised that he would be pouring himself into that she leaned against a tree, arms crossed watching him as he muttered under his breath and tore into the post for all he was worth.

He was moving with a great deal more grace than he had so long ago and Anko was almost startled at the changes she was noticing. When he finally came to a stop, he was panting and she grinned slightly. "So, feel better now?"

Naruto turned eyes wide and then he frowned. "Go away,"

"Why?" Anko asked, arching an eyebrow. "I like watching exercises in futility."

"Anko," Naruto said warningly.

"That's my name," Anko said with a shrug, "So, do you feel better now or what?"

"It's none of your business," Naruto snapped.

"Heh, see this is the thing. I think you're wrapped up in your own little tragic play, like you're the only one that's got a reason to be prissy or angry..."

Naruto glared at her silently and then looked away, fists clenching and unclenching. "I just figured..."

"That it wouldn't hurt so much if you were alone? That you wouldn't have to think about it if you trained until you passed out?" Anko finished for him, crossing her own arms. "That will never happen."

"But it hurts," Naruto said in a low voice, turning to look at her. "Didn't they love me? Or want me? Maybe they didn't die, maybe they just abandoned me? If they did died, why or how could they just leave me?... I... I pretend it doesn't hurt, but its like..."

"Give me your arm," Anko said abruptly, pulling a kunai from inside her jacket. Seeing his hesitation, she fixed him with a glare. "Come on, just give me the damn arm."

Hesitating slightly, because Anko + kunai + his arm nothing good, he offered it up and then watched curiously as she grabbed his hand while shoving the sleeve up to expose his forearm. He opened his mouth to say something when she looked up at him in a way that made him pause in fascination.

"What I'm going to do will hurt like a mother fucker," Anko explained. "You'll want to yank your arm away, and you will probably cry... But, this helped me not too long ago. So, just sit still, suck it up, and let's see how much of a Hokage you really are."

Naruto blinked, then, with a nod, looked at his arm. He tensed when the cold tip touched his flesh, then winced as it slowly pierced his skin. He had to bite his lip, tried hard not to cry and to keep from looking away as the kunai slowly cut line after line into his arm.

Anko was intent, and she moved with a careful precision that was both frightening and reassuring.

It seemed to go on for hours, him trying hard not to cry and failing, her slicing his arm and not caring. Then, finally, she was finished. The metal was removed, and he pulled his arm in to cradle it against his jacket, ignoring the blood that was leaking all over him.

"Here," Anko said, and he looked up to see her offering a rag of some type. Grasping it, he pressed it against his arm and then looked up at her once more, watching as she produced a bottle of sake and watched him. "You know, I screamed my head off when I did that... Might have been because I was doing it myself and had to keep stopping because of the pain."

Naruto only stared and then, in a sort of horrible fascination, looked at his arm and the rag covering it. He had watched, sure, but the pain had made him unable to figure out what she was carving into his flesh. Hesitantly, he moved the rag, smearing the blood, and studied what she had carved into his flesh.

It took him a moment to fully register the familiarly- stylized Konoha leaf symbol, and another to wonder at how it seemed to be healing already. Looking up, he saw her shaking back one of her sleeves to reveal and arm sporting her own Konoha leaf.

"It makes no sense, does it? Why did I carve that into your arm? My arm?" Anko said, fixing him with her stare while setting her sake down in front of him. "It's a symbol, like our forehead protectors. It reminds us of everything we've lost, everything we have, and our dreams. For us, this village... is pretty much all we have. Never forget or let the bastards win."

"Never give up," Naruto said firmly. "I'm going to be Hokage; I will never stop."

"I know," Anko said, smirking. "Now, then... I think its high time you got drunk!"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. "But I'm underage..."

"That only matters if you're a villager," Anko countered, her smirk becoming sadistically evil. "You're a ninja."

"But sake doesn't taste good," Naruto countered.

"Then do this," Anko said, picking the bottle up before she pinched her nose and tossed her head back, chugging for a moment before handing it to him.

Naruto blinked, sniffed the bottle and then, seeing her attention on him, he pinched his nose and tossed his head back, chugging as she had. He was surprised that it was going so fast that he couldn't even taste it, but he could definitely feel the warmth already... Finishing the bottle, he stared at her, his grin slightly lopsided.

Anko chuckled and produced another bottle.

"Oi, where do you keep those..."

"Oh," Anko said, uncorking it, a coy smile on her face, "we girls have all sorts of hiding places."

Naruto had the grace to blush, for once getting exactly what she meant.

* * *

Yûhi Kurenai was fighting her nerves; after all, this would be her first team to enter the Chûnin exams. True, they still had a week left, but she was still nervous. Her team was not exactly happy with her new training regimen, either. Kiba had been skipping a lot, and Sakura trained only because Sasuke deemed it worth while to show up. Sasuke was the only one that was willing to train, but, then again, he was an Uchiha, and they were pre-disposed toward combat. 

Shaking it all off, Kurenai at least took comfort in the fact that she had managed to pry Naruto from Anko's sadistic and corrupting clutches. Hayate was a good man, upstanding and well grounded, a very good ninja. Naruto would now at least have a chance at a normal- Well, no genin was normal really- childhood.

Still, it was the least she could do for her village and for an innocent child.

Then, all of her pride and righteous satisfaction was destroyed in one fell swoop as she entered the training area to find Anko passed out on the ground.

With Naruto's head resting on her chest.

Amid countless empty sake bottles.

Kiba was the first of her team to arrive, for once, and he paused beside her, his tone awed as he took in the scene. "I have never wanted to be Naruto so badly..." He paused as Akamaru barked, then nodded slightly in agreement with the white small dog perched on his head. "Then again..."

"She... They...All this..." Kurenai managed weakly, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Sakura and Sasuke were the next to arrive, both freezing in their tracks.

"HE'S UNDERAGE! AND HER SKIRT IS TOO SHORT!" Sakura railed, in a surprisingly accurate depiction of a younger Kurenai's likely reaction.

Sasuke, on the other hand, took in the entire scene, then snorted. "They deserve each other,"

With that, Naruto promptly rolled over and buried his face into Anko's chest with a small snore, the empty sake bottle he had been hold falling to the ground.

* * *

AN: 

Below are a few notes to clear things up...

1) Yes Naruto now has a scar. Yes I know that scars occur when your body can't produce cells in proper alignment to bridge a gap. I know I gave Naruto regeneration instead of advanced healing, which would mean he couldn't scar.

However, since we all know the Kyûbi is in control of the healing process... and that Anko and Naruto tried to drink each other under the table -feasible, since Naruto's system would probably burn the alchohol out quickly- it's safe to assume that, after the hundredth attempt on Anko's part to recarve the symbol on his arm, the Kyûbi would just give in and be done with it.

2) The amount of bloodloss he would suffer is up for debate; since he regenerates, he can regenerate the blood cells, but the water would be something else... And, since alcohol is diuretic, he's going to have the mother of all hangovers in the morning (since hangover symptoms are mostly from dehydration). Still, it is possible that Naruto could regenerate the blood he loses quickly enough.

3) Before you argue with me about the Kyûbi making Naruto unable to get drunk... bull. Making him immune to poison, okay that's a gimme. Keeping him from getting alcohol poisoning, sure. However, the Kyûbi is a very vindictive and vicious being; therefore, I can easily see the beast letting Naruto get drunk. It just takes more... Which is worth it, in the Kyûbi's humble opinion because of the massive hangover that will follow.

4) Don't agree with me? Tough, my universe, my rules.

Omake: Why? Cause of Sasuke's line...I would love to see this in a comic format!

Yûhi Kurenai was fighting her nerves; after all, this would be her first team to enter the Chûnin exams. True, they still had a week left, but she was still nervous. Her team was not exactly happy with her new training regimen, either. Kiba had been skipping a lot, and Sakura trained only because Sasuke deemed it worth while to show up. Sasuke was the only one that was willing to train, but, then again, he was an Uchiha, and they were pre-disposed towards combat.

Shaking it all off, Kurenai at least took comfort in the fact that she had managed to pry Naruto from Anko's sadistic and corrupting clutches. Hayate was a good man, upstanding and well grounded, a very good ninja. Naruto would now at least have a chance at a normal- Well, no genin was normal really- childhood.

Still, it was the least she could do for her village and for an innocent child.

Then, all of her pride and righteous satisfaction was destroyed in one fell swoop as she entered the training area to find Anko passed out on the ground.

With Naruto's head resting on her chest.

Amid countless bottles of sake.

Kiba was the first of her team to arrive, for once, and he paused beside her, his tone awed as he took in the scene. "I have never wanted to be Naruto so badly..." He paused as Akamaru barked, then nodded slightly in agreement with the white small dog perched on his head. "Then again..."

"She... They...All this..." Kurenai managed weakly, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Sakura and Sasuke were the next to arrive, both freezing in their tracks.

"HE'S UNDERAGE! AND HER SKIRT IS TOO SHORT!" Sakura railed, in a surprisingly accurate depiction of a younger Kurenai's likely reaction.

Sasuke, on the other hand, took in the entire scene, and then snorted. "Damn it, where's my big chested whore?!"

Kurenai turned to stare at the black -haired prodigy, as did a horrified Sakura and an amused Kiba. They were promptly interrupted by Anko, who sat up, shoved Naruto off her chest, and glared at him. "Well, if you want to see what me and Naruto did last night..."

Kurenai rounded on the other woman immediately, face pale. "Anko! Have you no shame? It's not bad enough you corrupt your own students, you have to do that to mine?!"

"Sa-Sasuke-kun say no!" Sakura added.

"Dude... You say no, and I will kick your ass!" Kiba shouted, along with a bark of agreement from Akamaru.

"omeh?" Naruto managed, sitting up, clutching at his head furiously. Then, looking around, he stared at the four and snorted. "Can you keep it down? Anko really wore me out last night."

"Aww, you didn't enjoy yourself?" Anko pouted, slipping an arm around his shoulder.

"I didn't say that," Naruto defended with a grin.

"Sasuke, if you don't say yes to her offer, no one's gonna find the body!" Kiba nearly shouted in hysterics.

"...as if I would dirty myself with a woman like her," Sasuke managed disdainfully.

"Ooooh, wrong thing to say Sasuke-kun," Naruto mockingly said, with an unpleasant smirk.

"Now I'm definitely demonstrating!" Anko shouted, jumping to her feet, a kunai in her hand.

"Anko! You can not assault my students just because one of them insults you!" Kurenai shouted, moving between her students and the older woman.

"...Okay, you're my demonstration partner!" Anko said, eyes glinting.

"SCORE!" Kiba shouted, as obviously ecchi thoughts raced through his head, causing his nose to spurt blood, and his prompt loss of consciousness.

"What the hell is wrong with you people!?!?" Sakura shouted, hoping that nobody noticed her blush or could hear her Inner Sakura cheering as she echoed Kiba's 'SCORE!' and ecchi thoughts.


	15. Chapter 14: Team Building Anko Style

**Naruto:  
**Altered History  
Volume Three: Chaos!  
Chapter 14:  
_-Team Building...Anko Style-_  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Slipping into the semi-dark building of Leaf Central, Anko grimaced at the knowledge of what such an early morning summons could mean. Walking past the empty desks and rooms, she made her way to the stairs that would eventually take her to the Hokage's office. Footsteps echoing eerily as she climbed Anko almost felt as if she was entering Orochimaru's lair once more. 

She shivered at the memory.

In all honesty this was the last place she wanted to be, mainly because she could still see the disappointment that had been clearly etched in the Sandaime's face upon her return from Fishimi. He hadn't shouted, or ranted, those she could have handled. Instead he had spoken in an almost whisper, firm but soft, he was polite but he hid none of his disappointment.

He had somehow managed to make her feel guilty about her decision in taking Naruto. It made her feel as if this was less about her judgment and more about her betraying his trust. Anko hated that, despite how she _should_ feel after his recent decisions, she felt guilty about betraying his trust.

So she had thrown herself into training Naruto, pushing him to refine _everything_ he had learned. Had worked him almost to the breaking point, in an effort to ensure that the Hokage would see it! See how guilty she felt, how much she wanted to do exactly what he wanted. How much Anko actually cared about Naruto...when she cared about nothing else!

Shaking it all off she quietly exited the stairway and then, unconsciously greeting the hidden ANBU, strode down the hallway to the door that was looming larger and larger. Pausing she took a moment to gather herself and then threw the door open entering with her usual gusto. "Hey ya old man, you wanted to see me?"

"Anko-san," The Hokage said, looking up from a scroll on his desk, his face neutral. "Good morning."

"'Morning," Anko returned hiding her disappointment at his lack of usual warmth. Then she noticed Kakashi and Hayate and blinked in surprise. "Huh, what are you two doing here?"

"Nothing important," Kakashi said immediately, hastily shoving his recently recovered book into his pocket.

"Mhmm," Anko said smirking slightly before looking at the sick looking man seated before the Hokage's desk. She knew Hayate, they had worked together for a while, but he had never been one of her favorite people. Still she had some respect for him, so instead of making a wise crack about drugs she arched an eyebrow, wondering silently at the parlor of his skin.

Hayate in turn offered her a weak smile before coughing into a red-stained rag, which set off an alarm bell in her head.

"Anko-san," The Sandaime finally continued his tone soft but firm. "the reason I asked you to come in is because Hayate-san needs to take several days off from active duty. This would leave his team without a sensei and this close to the Exam's I couldn't assign another person."

Anko resisted the urge to glance yet again at the sick man in question, already knowing the obvious from the few clues she had. There was no other explanation and it was all because he had slipped up and allowed a spider to bite him and worsen his condition.

"I see," Anko said just as seriously, crossing her arms and lowering her chin. "What about the Second Exam? I know you wanted me to proctor it..."

"Kakashi-san said that he would do that," The Sandaime said, lacing his fingers together while giving her a piercing look. "I need you to take responsibility for Team Hayate and Uzumaki Naruto, at least for the duration of this exam."

Anko let out a small breath, whether this was a chance from the heavens or merely a coincidence, it didn't matter. The Hokage was offering her a chance to regain his trust and it was a chance to help Naruto prove himself to everyone. So of course she would accept this, but she also understood one other thing.

They're could not be Team Hayate _and_ Naruto, there had to be one team. Just one. A single unit.

"You won't have to do much, just make sure to enter them into the Chūnin Exam today at noon. After that just make sure they show up in two days and be there for the completion of the second exam." The Sandaime was saying, his voice never changing.

"I'll do it," Anko said evenly, trying to figure out a way to forge the three Genin into a true team within three days. However to do that she needed to know the other two slightly better, no point in killing them if they had to be around to work with Naruto later.

"That's it then, both of you are dismissed." Sandaime said politely, then added as Anko turned to head for the door. "Thank you Anko."

"Don't worry," Anko responded casually with a flick of her wrist. "For the chance to torture a princess I'd do almost anything." Closing the door behind her she was relieved to hear the amused chuckle from the Sandaime. Free of the office now and staring at an uncomfortable looking Hayate she turned back to the more immediate concern of forging a team out of those three.

"I need to know a few things."

"Umm...what exactly do you need to know?" Hayate asked, coughing into the rag yet again as he led the way back toward the stairs

"How big you are," Anko staid sarcastically before snorting. "You're team, what else. I need to know something about them if I'm gonna be their sensei."

"Why?" Hayate immediately asked, his tone guarded.

"The truth?" Anko asked shooting him an exasperated look. "You're dying. The Hokage knows, Kakashi knows. Probably everyone Jô nin or above. So obviously this isn't temporary, so I need to know what to do with those little shits since I'm gonna be responsible now."

Hayate paused staring at her, rather shrewdly, before he coughed. "Aburame Shino is capable, he creates plans within plans and he seems to have almost no emotions. He's brutal, efficient and at times utterly frightening. He is however a bit too dependent on his bugs, even for his family."

"Heh," Anko managed falling into step behind the man as they descended the stairs. "No personality huh?"

"None." Hayate said in agreement before coughing once more. "Yakamana Ino on the other hand, she appears to be nothing _but_ emotion's. Competitive, temperamental, and comes across a complete ditz."

"Gee, color me impressed."

"She also has more talent at Kenjutsu than _anyone_ I've ever known." Hayate explained in response, his tone almost proud. "I trained her for the last two weeks in nothing but Kenjutsu. Other people wouldn't have been able to pick it up, Ino grasped everything I taught her easily."

"Impressive," Anko drawled as they finally left the stairs and started for the front doors. "Anything else?"

"She has this odd tendency to notice things that others overlook. I think it comes from her use of the family jutsu, even if she doesn't use them that often."

"Well, sounds like the makings of a decent team..." Anko said in amusement as they finally left the Hokage Tower and stepped out into the streets.

"Anko-sempai," Hayate said, coughing once more. "Uhmm...what exactly are you thinking about doing to them?"

"I'm going to forge them into the most dangerous team possible." Anko said blandly raising an eyebrow.

"You only have three days," Hayate responded tiredly. "How exactly are you going to manage that?"

"Akagahara." Anko said simply, then seeing the surprise on his face cackled before walking off down the street.

* * *

Yawning Naruto's eyes fluttered open wearily, only to squint as the annoying buzzing of his alarm clock reached him. Sitting up, he yawned while knocking his sleeping cap off. Looking around blearily he sighed, tossing his covers aside before climbing to his feet. 

As per his new found habit -Anko insisted on it- he grabbed the few kunai near his bed and fired them off blindly at the targets she had affixed to his far wall.

He missed each one.

Naruto however didn't care, he was too busy lamenting his lack of sleep, which had been sadly short supply ever since returning from Fushimi. Apparently Anko had decided, for some unknown reason, to revamp her already insane training practices. The only bright side was that she had adjusted the training time so that the sun was actually UP when they started training.

Stumbling his way through the untidy apartment he managed to clear his room, the hallway and enter the bathroom with little to no fuss. Shedding his sleep shirt and pants he turned on the shower, which sputtered to life and then climbed in. Swaying on his feet, he went through the motions of showering.

This served to edge his mind toward consciousness, which sadly prompted his mind onto the same touchy subject he had been dealing with since the news of his bloodline. His family, the ones he pretended not to miss, the ones that he hated and wanted so badly. Where they ashamed of him, or hate him, or was something just wrong with him?

Why didn't they want him?

They were questions that he had asked thousands of times, and he still had no answers. All he knew was that he felt hurt, betrayed and angry, with nothing to rage against. Shaking it all off and finishing his shower he tried to finish waking up, but failed for the most part.

Searching absently for a towel he frowned dimly aware that he had none on hand, which meant he would just have to drip dry. Sourly he stumbled out of the bathroom and out to the kitchen, where he gathered his customary breakfast of ramen and milk before plopping down on a chair.

Eating in silence he paused suddenly, looking around as if remembering something he had forgotten. It was important, but since he couldn't think of anything he turned his attention back to his meal. A few minutes later he paused yet again, looking around, sure that he was forgetting something important.

Turning back to his meal he lifted a warm noodle to his mouth and froze, the noddles in his stomach turning to lead. Anko had threatened him with genjutsu training, or more accurately she had threatened to cast a genjutsu and fill his apartment with something unpleasant. Lowering his noddles he looked up, blue eyes darting left and then right, like a prey catching the scent of an approaching predator.

Everything seemed normal, but Naruto was suddenly very uneasy about his nudity. Covering his crotch he quickly stood and raced back into his bedroom to frantically cover himself, nearly hurting a _very_ important part of his anatomy. Breathing easier he walked back out into his apartment and found Anko sitting on his couch, holding a handful of pictures in her hands.

Naruto felt his neck hairs stand on end. "Anko..."

"Heh, you sensed me huh?" Anko said absently, grinning evilly at the pictures. "Not quite a dispel but that's still an improvement."

"...Are those pictures?"

"Well of course, you're quite photogenic Naruto..." Anko said glancing at him, a suggestive grin on her lips as she stood.

"..." Naruto blinked, his cheeks coloring at the realization.

"Anyway, I figure this hammers home the point that if you can't dispel or detect Genjutsu then you're at an attackers mercy." Anko said gesturing with the pictures -revealing for a moment a stark naked Naruto- "I guess I should deliver these around the village, maybe that Sakura girl would like to see 'em...or ooooh, how about Ino?"

Naruto paled and then narrowed his eyes. "Oi! Give them to me!"

"No, don't think so." Anko chirped happily. "You want 'em you'll have to come and take 'em."

"FINE!" Naruto roared and darted forward, striking nothing but empty air as Anko dodged and moved toward the open balcony window.

Naruto was hot on her heels.

* * *

Ino was not an early riser, as a matter of fact she was more of a mid-afternoon riser, and anytime she was forced out of her warm bed and out into the world at the crack of dawn made her irritable. Hayate had know this but had not really cared too much, still he respected her enough to keep team training until later in the afternoon. 

For which Ino had kept from murdering him.

Their new, 'mysterious' sensei however didn't seem to have any interest in living. Ino could still remember her mother's almost apologetic smile this morning, having roused her out of bed. Ino had been understandable irate about this, after all she had only been home one day from her Kenjutsu training. Yet her mom had explained that he new sensei wanted her up and ready to go in the usual training area by sunrise.

Muttering phrases that her mom conveniently chose to not hear Ino had gotten ready, grabbed the ninja-to Hayate had loaned her, and then stormed off. She encountered Shino shortly after this and despite her anger and worry about Hayate, they had walked in companionable silence to the training area.

Where they waited.

They had both watched the sky brighten, the sun rise and listened as both of their stomachs rumbled in hunger. Irritable, Ino had preformed the Kenjutsu form that Hayate had taught her while Shino began talking with his bugs. At almost noon she had stopped and sat under a tree, arms crossed and glaring at the forest, determined to kill their sensei as soon as they arrived.

"I'm getting tired of this waiting, I'd like someone to tell us what the hell is going on." Ino finally snapped, frustrated beyond belief.

"I am sure the answer will come soon," Shino said in his persistently calm manner.

Ino felt her eye twitch slightly, a sure sign of a building explosion. She mastered herself however, it was almost pointless to berate the boy since he could say nothing else. Exasperated she looked at the sky, catching the edge of the sun as it danced through the foliage. Something about that made her blink in realization and look around.

Where was Naruto? He should have been there, after all he _was_ part of their team and Hayate had never mentioned that changing. Thinking about the other blond Ino wasn't sure whither to be relieved he wasn't around or worried.

"Ino-san, I have been meaning to discuss something with you."

Snapping out of her thoughts she focused on Shino, wondering what he was about to say. He seemed to be considering his next words, at least until the sound of an small explosion echoed through the air. Followed by a smug female voice.

"Come on, can't you move any faster?"

"Bitch! Hold still." Another, even louder, male voice called back.

Ino blinked and got to her feet, looking in the direction the voices had come from. While she couldn't be sure, Ino felt confident that the second one belonged to Naruto. This was proven a minute later as a woman, dressed in almost nothing but fish netting and a trench coat, leaped into the training area. Followed shortly after Naruto, who had a kunai in hand and murder in his eyes.

The blond in question rebounded from his heavy landing and pushed off extremely quickly while thrusting his kunai for the now grinning woman's face. Ino blinked, shocked, and it was over just like that. Suddenly Naruto was on the ground, the woman's foot stomping into his chest while she crossed her arms. "Pffh, you must be getting tired ya brat, normally I'd have to kill four or five clones before this."

"You stupid psychotic bitc-ooomph!" Naruto said, choking off as the foot stomped on his chest yet again.

"H-hey!" Ino said, startled, reaching for her ninja-to. The woman turned her attention to the girl and Ino started to unseath her sword, only she froze halfway through for no apparent reason.

The woman in question however grinned brighter than ever, which somehow made her even more scary. "Careful princess, you could hurt yourself with that."

Ino tried to say something but found her mouth clamped shut without any apparent means, which frightened her.

"Relax, that's just a paralyzing jutsu it'll wear off in a few minutes." The woman explained, stepping off of Naruto to stretch. "I take it your the Yakamana girl...which means..." At this the woman turned her attention to a still calm Shino. "That little bugger is Abraume Shino."

"Oi! What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto shouted hopping to his feet, his face angry.

The woman absently smacked him upside his head, her grin never fading as she looked back at Ino. "In case you're wondering, I'm Matraishi Anko you're new sensei." Ino couldn't help but make an incredulous noise at that announcement, which seemed to iritate Anko who threw a kunai -which seemed to come from nowhere- within inches of Ino's ear. "I have a low tolerance to bullshit and I have no problem killing either of you."

"I told you she was a psycho!" Naruto mumbled, crossing his arms and glaring at Anko.

* * *

The room was simple, a stone floor with various items leaning against the walls and white tapestries hanging down at intervals. A red carpet, tripped in white, ran the full length of the floor from the entrance to the raised section where a high backed seat and curved desk rested. 

It was simple and yet at the same time it was intimidating. It was a formal meeting hall, used only on the rare occasion of a truly important event. The naming of a Hokage, a private marriage between two high ranking ninja, peace treaties, declarations of war.

The Sandaime, who was sitting behind the desk smoking his pipe while pretending to be the iron foundation that the village needed, had used this hall for all of those things. He had named the Yondaime Hokage here, he had seen the marriage of several powerful ninja, signed several peace treaties and decelerations of wars.

So much time, he mused before shaking all of that off and focusing on the selected ninja before him. These twenty were the chosen sensei's of the current group of rookie Genin, each were serious except for one who was busy eating dango and trying to flirt with the ANBU commander. The Sandaime felt a twinge of various emotions seeing her, but kept those carefully in check.

"It should be obvious why you've all be assembled," The Hokage finally said, staring out at them closely, his memory flashing back to when most of them where Genin themselves. Taking a puff he blew a smoke ring, dispelling the memories.

"Of course Hokage-sama," Kurenai said respectfully, almost brimming with energy and pride.

The Sandaime offered her an indulgent smile, knowing that she was anxious to prove her worth as a sensei. "So which of the newly graduated Genin are ready?" He was sorely disappointed when only two people stepped forward, one an attractive female with the red eyes, the other wearing a brown trench coat and eating dango.

"Well? Kurenai, Anko...are there any Genin that you'd recommend?" Studying them the old man took a puff on his pipe before sighing. "Please remember that its recommended that they have at least eight missions..."

"Hokage-sama...one question." Kurenai said respectfully, keeping from glancing at the woman beside her. "Mitarashi Anko is only the sensei for Uzumaki Naruto, who I doubt could handle this exam-"

"Excuse me?" Anko interrupted, staring at Kurenai. "You don't think Naruto couldn't handle this stupid test? Ah, that's right. I can see how someone with your... record might find it difficult, Yūhi-kouhai."

"What was that?" Kurenai said slowly, a killer intent beginning to radiate off her.

"Nothing," Anko smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Just pointing that for someone that...suffered setbacks, the Chūnin exams could be viewed as dangerous."

"Are you trying to pick a fight!" Kurenai snapped glaring at the older woman.

Anko however, looked away addressing the Hokage."My solider HAS completed a B-ranked and an A-ranked mission. Team Hayate has managed at least one successful B-rank mission." Shooting Kurenai a look she snorted. "These are three genin that have been trained by a former ANBU Captain as well as a Special Jô nin and not some wannabe Jōnin."

"My Team has handled an A-ranked mission and several C-ranked missions!" Kurenai shouted, before stepping up to point at Anko. "Hokage-sama, if you let this woman's _'solider' _and that team compete then what message are you sending? Besides, don't you think she might be just trying to remove them? We all remember her Genin test and who her sense-"

"Enough!" The Hokage suddenly said, his tone radiating authority. "You are both grown women and Jōnin! Any problems that you two have should not interfere or cloud your judgment! Am I clear?"

"As crystal." Anko said, her eyes almost narrowing.

When Kurenai nodded, albeit reluctantly, the Sandaime took a puff on his pipe attempting to easy his heart back to normal. He sensed Kakashi's focus shifting to him and he made it a point of pretending to be fine. ""Starting with Kurenai-san then."

The woman in question lifted her fingers into the proper position and almost spat out the names hatefully while glaring at Anko who was happily munching her dango once more. "The Kurenai lead Team Seven; Uchiha Sasuke, Inzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura...under the name of Yuhi Kurenai I nominate them to take the Chūnin selection exam."

"Anko-san?"

"Yea, yea...Anko, Team Nine formerly Hayate's...Naruto, Ino, Shino...they can all take the exam." Anko said waving a hand before putting her dango up and stretching. "Are we done now?"

"I think this should be done properly," The Sandaime said, locking his eyes with Anko. The woman stared back her face carefree as always but he saw her uneasiness. Then smiling sweetly, she put her hand into the proper position.

"Sure, whatever. The Anko led, formerly Hayate led, Team Nine; Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Shino and Yakamana Ino...under the name Mitarashi Anko, the same as to my...er...right."

Nodding the Hokage looked at the other gathered Jōnin's, tone serious. "Anyone else? No? Very well...we are done for now. Dismissed." They all did just that, with Anko trailing behind but eventually they were alone and the Sandaime felt himself slump into his seat slightly.

Kakashi was there almost instantly, placing a cup on the desk before him. "Hokage-sama, you can't keep this up much longer."

Chuckling the Hokage sipped at the herbal drink, appreciating the medicine as always. Setting it down he looked up at the masked man, radiating confidence that only he could manage. "Ah, Kakashi-kun I will be fine. Do we have any word on Jiraiya?"

"Well, we've whispered in the right places that its urgent that you see him...about the Yondaime's legacy," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "As for word, nothing yet...but knowing him, he'll probably just turn up."

"Yes, he was always surprising," The Sandaime agreed before sighing heavily. As if by unspoken command the ANBU Commander left and the Sandaime closed his eyes wondering just how much longer he _could_ keep going. The only answer he could find was 'long enough'.

* * *

"Geez, why do you think she kidnapped this Konohamaru kid?" Ino muttered as they moved among the trees. 

"Oi, cause like she said, she was drunk." Naruto responded irritably, keeping pace beside her.

Shino fought the grimace as he sensed yet another argument building between the two. His head was already throbbing from the migraine he was developing from their arguments, which were getting worse every time. If Ino suggested one place Naruto would argue and had to be dragged kicking to check it out. If Naruto suggested something, Ino would do the _exact_ same thing.

It was like the last mission they had been on together, only worse.

"No I mean _why_," Ino said in annoyance. "He's the Hokage's grandson, only an insane person would actually kidnap him cause they were drunk."

"At what point did she seem 'sane' to you?" Naruto muttered.

"She was just trying to scare us," Ino snapped.

Shino almost but not quiet whimpered as his headache increased in strength. At least however, they sounded more like a married couple now than the 'cats and dogs' from earlier. "We can not risk it Ino-san, my family says that she came by here not too long ago."

"Oi, I still don't get how you can tell that sort of thing." Naruto said, sounding throughly confused.

"My bugs sustain themselves on chakra," Shino explained glancing at the blond behind him. "Thus they can distinguish between people's chakra. Since she did use chakra my bugs were exposed to it and they learned that 'scent'..."

"Ooook," Naruto said slowly, clearly not understanding. "So they're following Anko's chakra?"

"Correct," Shino said looking forward once more. "However, the scent is becoming weaker due to how much time has passed since she traveled this way."

"Then why are we going so slow?" Naruto said in frustration darting forward.

"H-Hey! Naruto get your ass back here!" Ino shouted angrily.

"Let him go," Shino said calmly, resigned to the fact that they would never be a true team. "According to my family he's going in the correct direction."

"That blond jackass," Ino grumbled in response.

Ten minutes later they reached the edge of the forest they had been traveling through, revealing Naruto who was glaring at Anko who was munching dango's happily. Landing adroitly, followed by Ino, Shino also noted a bound and unconcious child at her feet being used as a footstool.

Turning away from that, he glanced at the barbed wire fence behind the woman. It seemed rather ominous actually, why was there a fence here separating two sections of forest?

"'Bout time," Anko said, finishing off her dango. "Yeesh, thought you'd get here couple hours ago."

"Yeah yeah," Naruto said in response. "Oi, so what now?"

Anko flashed them a smile, before climbing ot her feet while holding a length of rope which was attached tot he bundle at her feet. "Well I am taking this runt home, then getting some sake. You guys are going in their to find your applications for the Chūnin exam in three days."

"Really?" Naruto said excitedly.

Ino made an uneasy noise while Shino arched an eyebrow, which was more due to the way Naruto shifted from petulant to excited. Only early he had been lamenting and berating Anko and now he looked as if he was about to hug the woman. It was an odd dynamic that worried him for some reason.

"Yeh, like Hayate thought your ready." Anko said as if in exasperation. "All you have to do now is decide to take the exam or not. If you do fill the applications out and hand them in at room 301 at four p.m. day after tomorrow."

"Yes! One step closer to Hokage!"

"So, like, where exactly did you put them?" Ino asked, sounding annoyed and not bothering to hide it.

"You'll have to work that out for yourselves," Anko said simply shooting her a sharp look. "So you guys have a good day." Turning the woman started to walk away, dragging a squirming Konohamaru behind her before she paused and looked back over he shoulder at Ino. "Oh and princess, try not to get yourself killed."

Shino winced, watching the woman casually continue on her way, leaving a now fuming Ino behind.

* * *

Ino felt a hint of anxiety forming in her chest staring at that fence, topped with barbed wire, and beyond that to the forbidding trees. Maybe she was merely projecting her own feelings, but it definitely felt malevolent. Shifting her attention to Naruto she was relieved to see what appeared to be uncertainty on his face. 

"So, like...what you do think?" Ino finally asked, glancing at Shino and then then back to the forest.

"It would appear we have no choice," Shino said calmly.

"Oi, its just some scary woods," Naruto said boisterously, moving toward the fence slightly.

"Idiot, look at those signs," Ino snapped gesturing at the battered and weather worn signs before them."This place is dangerous!"

"Bah, its just a mind game." Naruto said in dismissal jumping to the top of the fence, careful to not touch the barbed wire. Ino shot Shino an exasperated look, only to sigh as Shino followed the blond's lead.

Shaking her head, knowing this would not lead to anything worthwhile, followed both boys. Landing carefully, preforming a balancing act to keep from getting her feet sliced up from the barbwire. Annoyed she shifted her attention away from the immediate area to a splotch of red and an outcropping of some sort.

"Oi, doesn't look so bad," Naruto said, nodding in her peripheral vision.

"I don't think-" Ino started to say only to blink in surprise as he jumped off the fence and fell through a hidden pit. "Naruto!" Jumping down along side Shino they both peered into the hole to find Naruto spread eagle, holding himself a hairsbreadth, over several sharpened bamboo poles.

"Kami!" Ino said kneeling beside the hole. "Are you ok Naruto?"

"Gee, let me think, " Naruto shouted back sarcastically. "I'm in a hole, with sharp pointy objects pointed at me! Yeah, I'm just great Ino!"

"Well I was just asking!" Ino shouted back before looking at Shino. "so, uhm, how should we get him out?"

Shino however was denied his chance to respond when Naruto suddenly exploded from the pit and landed in a crouch. "Oi, when I get my hands on that psychotic bitch I'm going to shove those damn dango sticks up her ass!"

Ino blinked, staring at him in surprise. The way he talked about so causally assaulting his own sensei frightened her. Then again the way Anko had treated him, she could understand it, but still disturbing. Shaking it off she turned her mind back to the more serious problem. "So like, where do you think she put those applications?"

"Most likely in the center," Shino answered stoically as ever. "If we go there we may find what we are looking for."

"So we just go in a straight line!" Naruto said decisively, climbing to his feet while stretching.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Ino suddenly demanded, infuriated by what he was saying. "I doubt that we can just, like, walk through this! This place is dangerous, we could get ourselves killed."

"Oi, we gotta get those applications!" Naruto retorted, rounding on her. "Going straight is the best answer!"

"That ranks right up there with 'counting to three' as a plan!" Ino snapped in frustration.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Ino narrowed her gaze on him, but remained silent.

"Ahah! So we go straight!" Naruto exclaimed setting off fearlessly.

"He does have a point," Shino said calmly as well. "the quickest path is a straight line."

"I'm sure," Ino said, climbing to her feet to trudge after Shino and Naruto. Not that she didn't trust the blond somewhat, but there was no telling what that crazy woman had done. Hell from the way Anko had treated them so far Ino wouldn't have been surprised if she was seriously trying to kill them.

Fuming and worrying over the various problems they were now facing Ino almost didn't feel it, the brush of strong yet giving thread. Yet she did feel it and she froze, her memory replaying a moment not so long ago when she had snapped something similar. Then she heard it, the vague sound of another set of wires being snapped.

Looking up she found Naruto frozen as well, the obvious source of the now compounded blunder.

Her first instinct was the shout at him, but her second instinct, which came from the fact that she could already hear the rushing weapons, was to move. Then she was left in stunned amazement as Naruto shoved Shino behind him apparently squaring up to the incoming hail of weapons.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

There was a soft roar, which quickly grew in strength, until suddenly everything in Naruto's path bent and swayed as if hit by a wind from a tornado. Branches snapped off, there was the deep crack of trees that would not bend and most notable was the hail of kunai which twisted and turned away to embedded themselves in all sorts of locations. The mysterious storm persisted for another minute and then quickly died, the accompanying noise dying to a soft murmur.

Relaxing her muscles for the moment Ino sighed in relief then glared at Naruto. "'Let's go straight' you said,"

"Oi, you're the one that set off that first trap." Naruto snapped rounding on her.

"Only cause I was distracted thinking about your sensei!" Ino shouted angrily.

"Whose fault is that?"

"Yours!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Fine! If you don't want me here I'm leaving!" Naruto shouted and then turning stormed off.

"Fine, go!" Ino shouted, waving her hands after him before turning to storm off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"That stupid, stupid-" Naruto grumbled, leaping from branch to branch, trying desperately to find a suitable 'what' Ino exactly was. All he really knew was that that she was stupid and got his _last_ nerve. Angry and fuming he began to grin manically, picturing Ino suffering some of the tortures that Anko had first threatened him with. 

"Would serve her right," Naruto agreed, nodding smugly. Hearing the sound of yet another tripwire being snapped he dodged the incoming hail by instinct, then hearing the hiss of a exploding note scrambled onward snapping another two wires and hastily dodged the hail from the weapons.

"Damn it!" Landing heavily with a stumble he looked behind him at the ruined path, scratching at the back of his head. "Erm, maybe this place _is_ a little dangerous." Naruto nodded then snorted turning to walk on, still not any reason to be afraid though.

Smug that he wouldn't fall for any more traps he boldly began to whistle.

At least until the world flashed and turned upside down.

"Wha?!" Naruto managed as he suddenly found himself frantically clawing at the ground to keep from falling, with his hair on end while weapons fell into the sky. He thought briefly of clutching at the escaping weapons but didn't dare for fear of falling. Below him the darkening sky stretched onwards and he knew that if he tried to move, he would fall away from the earth completely.

He could already feel a headache forming from all of the blood rushing to his head, which even Naruto knew was not a good thing. Frantic now he began trying to focus on something, anything, that would allow him to handle this situation. Sadly, though not surprisingly, Anko had never prepared him for this situation.

"Ok," He said through a forced calm while keeping his eyes squeezed shut, "I'm upside down...so obviously this is like tree walking..." nodding he molded the chakra to his feet and carefully climbed back to his feet, relieved to find that it was working.

Opening his eyes tentatively he looked at his feet glued to the earth and then let out a breath, even as his ears began to pound from the blooding racing to his head. So now...the blond paused, and considered feeling odd as if something about this situation was even more off than the sheer face that up was down and down was up. Where had he felt this before?

Then slowly, through the headache of having his blood rush to his head, he realized this was what it had felt like when Anko had put him in a genjutsu that morning. Which, well, it didn't help him any really; after all he couldn't dispel them so it didn't do him too good to _know_ it was a genjutsu.

Maybe storming off on his own hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Not that it was doing him much good to just stand there and think about that sort of thing, but it was getting difficult to think with the blood rushing to his head. "Ok, ok...so, uhm...I'm suppose to try and stop my chakra and disrupt it...er, only I'm not sure how to do that."

Thinking he could see no way out of this...damn it, if he could just disrupt his chakra. Well, maybe if someone else was around they could do it for him, but there wasn't anybody around. Then realization hit him, his Kage Bunshin! They were people, sorta, and they could use chakra!

If he made one and had it...uhmm...mold its chakra into his? Would that work? Well he wouldn't know until he tried, molding his chakra he concentrated producing one, which promptly scrambled to hold onto the earth. "Oi, it just an illusion...now stand up and ya know, try to mold your chakra into me?"

The clone blinked then did asked, which sadly didn't seem to work. Then in another flash the world was right side up and vertigo seized the blond and he toppled to his hands and knees taking several deep breaths. Recovered he shakily climbed back to his feet and looked around for the source of the genjutsu.

Spotting the seal he cursed, nearly slapping his forehead at the obviousness of it. He did take some pride in the fact that he had figured out how to handle genjutsu, but still he wouldn't have fallen for it in the first place if Shino or Ino had been around. Frowning he looked at his idle clone, as if holding a private debate, which in a way he was.

The simple fact was that he needed his team. If he wasn't careful we would end up dead and they were probably already facing that situation. "Oi, you go on ahead and ya know set off traps and etc...so I have some idea of what to expect," Naruto finally said turning as he clone took off.

Grumbling the real Naruto set off once more at a brisk pace retracing his steps hoping that he could come across his team. Well probably be best to create more clones and have them help, which of course is what he did.

When he did find them, ten minutes later, he found them struggling against a group of puppets. Shino was preforming admirable, his bugs clogging the joints and rendering them unmoving while Ino's sword was dancing around her, literally, deflecting anything the puppets shot at her before cutting them down. It actually appeared that they didn't need him, which troubled Naruto.

Just what did that say about him, if the two that were suppose to be weaker than him were doing better than he was? Then he saw it, two traps springing at the same time and he acted without thinking. Two Kage Bunshin's popped into existence, each preforming a Kawarimi with a startled Ino and Shino which allowed two massive logs to complete their swings safely.

Then on the heels of this Naruto concentrated once more and pulled off off yet another Futon: Daitoppa scattering the remaining attack puppets into the forest -and nearly knocking both of his teammates over in the process-. Finished and grinning Naruto broke cover and landed between the two. "Uh, hi...looked like you guys needed some help."

"...Looked like?" Ino repeated dryly putting her sword up, fixing him with an intense glare. "We were nearly killed! You had to go storming off in a huff, leaving us alone in a forest with so many damn traps that its a wonder were still alive!"

"Oi, I just saved your asses and now your gonna blame me?!" Naruto shouted back, eye twitching.

"Might I suggest that instead of arguing we attempt to figure out what exactly we should do now?" Shino said softly, moving between them to act as a mediator.

"Fine," Ino sniffed crossing her arms.

"Whatever," Naruto nodded kicking at the ground in annoyance, willing to back off for the moment. Ino still annoyed the hell out of him though and he was seriously considering shaving her head.

"It does appear that we are out of our element," Shino continued stoically as ever. "Perhaps we should withdraw and see if we can not speak with someone about this."

"You want to give up?" Naruto said blankly staring at the boy and then glanced at a startled, but relieved, looking Ino.

"It is the only logical choice," Shino said with a small shrug. "We can not function properly in this environment, thus the wisest course is to seek help and try again later."

"Like, yeah," Ino said almost uncertain. "Besides, why should we have to trek through this insane forest to get those stupid applications? I mean...I know I can handle myself a bit better, but...I don't think were ready for this exam."

Naruto blinked, looking between them, his stomach churning at what he was hearing. They wanted to give up and run away? How could they, no _why_ would they? Frowning he absently clenched his fist, his thoughts on everything he had heard and felt in those few minutes focusing into one thought; not giving up.

"I can't believe...you seriously want to go back and give up? Well screw that!" Lifting his head, he met both of their gazes, his voice strained with anger and determination. "I'm tired of people telling me what I can't do! That I can't be a ninja! That I can't reach my dreams! I'm going to get to that damn application, I'm gonna sign it and I'm going to present it! And then I'm going keep kicking asses until that old man **HAS** to make me Hokage!"

"Like, you seriously believe you can do that?"

"No, I know we can." Naruto said fiercely. "If we can stop fighting each other and work together, we can kick this forest's ass!"

"Maybe," Shino allowed.

"Oi, we're a team, there is no maybe about it." Naruto said glaring at the boy. "So are we going to get those applications or not?"

"Damn it," Ino muttered, sounding almost happy, "let's go. When the idiot's right, he's right."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, fighting his urge to stick his tongue out at her when he noticed what appeared to be a teasing smile. Instead he looked at Shino, asking without saying a word if he was with them or not.

The bug user nodded slightly, hands in his pockets. "If we are going to be properly rested tomorrow we need to move now."

"Right!" Naruto said excitedly, before scratching the back of his head "So, uhmm, triangle formation?"

"It seems a good idea, who should be point?"

"Uhh..." Naruto blinked, his mind finally catching up with what was going on. "I guess...you? Cause ya know...you'd notice the traps first? Or at least before blondie over there..."

"What was that?" Ino shot back, before flipping her hair back over her shoulder. "You're a blond too you know..."

"Oi, but I'm a guy blond," Naruto shot back cheekily as they took off "Mean's I'm one percent smarter than girl blonde's."

"Does not!"

"Does so!"

"Take it back or so help me I'm going to-"

"See, that proves it! You can't even think of a good threat!" Naruto cut her off, laughing.

"Ugh!"

* * *

Anko was drunk. 

Not fall-down drunk, and not slightly buzzed, but almost a happy medium. There was a drunken sway to her walk, a slurring of her speech, almost a sense of detachment from the world. She was no less deadly, of course, but still, she was drunk, and her reaction time was somewhat off-kilter.

Nobody however, could say she was a quiet drunk. Singing, shouting, torturing Kakashi -who had unwisely agreed to a date for his book- it had all been an event of the night. Now of course back in her apartment, settling in for her third night of blissful sleep, she had set about devouring her entire stock of dango.

Therein was her first mistake.

For of course she was by far to idealistic to believe that in the nearly twelve hours that she had been out, Naruto and his team would not have returned to the village. Or more to the point that Naruto, the number one prankster in Konoha, would NOT get revenge for tossing them into Akagahara.

It was not until her stomach gave an ominous rumbling, after three hours of devouring dango, that she realized that something could be wrong. Abandoning her meal and climbing to her feet she felt a sharp pain and paused, her suspicious nature coming to the forefront. Swaying her way through the living room and into the kitchen she swept her gaze around the counters and the off-white refrigerator.

Flipping a light on, she stumbled into the kitchen, giving it all a much closer inspection. Nothing seemed out of place, nor did the dango appear tampered with. Yet somehow she knew that something had been done, something that was about to have very disastrous results. For her stomach suddenly felt like lead.

Exerting her will over her now nearly traitorous stomach, Anko settled her gaze on her trashcan. Walking over, a hand resting on her stomach with sweat standing out on her skin she lifted the lid. There on the very top of the trash was a box, an over-the-counter box, of medicine. Picking the box up, she began to read, slowly working out the words.

"Konoha's number one... extra strength... chocolate... laxative," Anko paused, frowning as the last word took a moment to register. Then as the words reached her she felt a sharp pain shoot through her and she dropped the box and eyes wide, the drunk Jōnin spun and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

After nearly tearing the bathroom door off the hinges and then slamming the bathroom door shut, it was at this point that Anko decided she would have to kill...No, use a spoon to cut the heart out of Naruto.

Why?

Because she discovered, belatedly, her second mistake: she had not checked the toilet seat for plastic wrap.


	16. Chapter 15: The First Test: Espionage

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 15:  
_-The Chūnin Exams:  
The First Test: Espionage-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

Naruto woke up slowly, feeling that something was most definitely wrong. It wasn't that he could feel it, but he just sensed it. He checked to make sure that he was indeed still in his bed, then slowly he opened his eyes a fraction of an inch. It took him a moment to realize that the ceiling overhead was a different color than the one at his apartment. 

That was when he heard the giggling whispers that girls so often used. Alarm bells started going off in his mind and he lifting his head to see what his surroundings were. It was a room in one of the orphanages, but more importantly, it was a room filled with giggling staring girls.

Naruto's first instinct was to bolt out of the bed when he realized that he was naked under his blanket, which didn't matter too much since the blanket itself was actually _nailed_ to the frame and wasn't going anywhere.

"Uhh," Naruto managed articulately and then looked at one of the girls, who was giggling big time. "Do you think I could borrow your sheet? Or a pillow?"

"No," the girl said amid more laughter.

Blushing now, Naruto grew self-conscious, twisting onto his side and trying to think of a way out of this. Well, he still had his pillow, so at least that was something. That crisis solved, he turned his mind toward who had done this to him. He had a suspicion that it was Anko, but he wasn't sure. Then, remembering he had a room full of giggling witnesses, he smiled slightly.

"Oi, did any of you see who did this?" There was chorus of 'no's and then one girl nodded and shyly climbed off her bed at the far end of the room and approached him. Seeing her, Naruto sat up as best he could, embarrassed at the way some of the girls blushed at his chest.

"I, uhmm, I saw who did it," the girl said once she had gotten to the end of his bed. "She had black hair and… she, she... wore fishnetting-" at that the girl flushed slightly.

"Anko," Naruto grumbled and then noticed she was holding a familiar-looking box. "Oi, what's that?"

"She uh...asked me to give this to you when you woke up... said, um, something about karma and 'forced ingestion'."

Taking the box Naruto examined it and then gulped, paling. It was the same box of laxatives he had used on Anko last night. Mouth going dry, he shifted uneasily on his bed, praying that she was just trying to psych him out, but he knew better.

Modesty forgotten, Naruto tore his way out of the bed and, amid twittering laughter, whistles and blushes raced out of the room. Halfway down the stairs, he slammed into the woman that was in charge of the orphanage and then continued on his way, tears in his eyes as he raced out into the street and tried to make it home before he lost all control.

The entire way he cursed the named Mitarashi Anko.

* * *

Inoichi chuckled to himself as he scanned the joke section of 'Shinobi Digest', listening to the even more humorous shouting match between his wife and his sweet, though temperamental, daughter. Sometimes he seriously wondered why he and his wife had been 'blessed' with such a daughter. 

Setting the digest aside for a moment, he poured himself yet another cup of coffee and then turned back to his reading just as his daughter entered the kitchen. He listened as she moved about, muttering under her breath while trying to find breakfast and fasten the sword Hayate had presented her.

Inoichi wisely kept his amusement hidden until his daughter, with an muttered curse, finally managed to hook the belt of the sword into the proper position around her waist.

"So, this is the big day huh?" Inoichi finally said, looking up at her. "My li'l girl's becoming a Chūnin!"

"Yeah," Ino snorted, looking around impatiently at the table and counter before grabbing a cup from the sink and filling it with orange juice.

"So, you got everything? Know where your suppose to go?"

"Yes," Ino said, with such longer suffering that Inoichi knew she was nervous. He watched as she started to check her watch, then froze when she nearly spilt her drink.

"You've got plenty of time," Inoichi said, chuckling as he turned back to the digest he had been reading. "So, I guess Shino and -Anzai, wasn't it?- are waiting for you?"

"Anzai?" Ino repeated blankly before sighing in exasperation. "Like he's so not an issue now."

"Huh?" Inoichi managed, turning to stare at his daughter. "Not an issue? He is your team mate, right?"

"Like, not anymore. Get with the times, Naruto-"

"Naruto? Have I met him?"

"Uhh, no..." Ino said, then looked at her father guardedly "Why?"

"No reason," Inoichi lied expertly, hackles rising at the merest hint of an unknown boy around his precious daughter. "So, what's he like?"

"Iunno," Ino said with a shrug, before checking her weapons pouch as if she was afraid she had forgotten something. "Guy like, sorta annoying... blond hair, electric blue eyes, whisker marks."

"You know, I'm not so sure I like the idea of you taking the exam with some boy I've never met."

"Daddy, he's just a team mate!" Ino shot back, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Ahuh," Inoichi said, while nodding. "This 'Naruto' is a boy your age. He's got guy parts. This is a terrible idea."

"Dad!" Ino shouted in exasperation and then rounded on her mom who chose that moment to enter the kitchen. "Mom, Tell him that me taking the exam with Naruto is no big deal."

"Honey, its no big dea- Wait, who's Naruto?"

"Our daughter's team mate," Inoichi said, looking up at his wife. "He's got blond hair and _electric_ blue eyes."

"Oh?" The Yamanaka matriarch said, arching an eyebrow as Ino threw her hands up in frustration. "Does he have a last name?"

"I don't believe this!" Ino shouted, stomping her foot angrily. "He's my team mate, okay? I went to the academy with him! It'll be fine, he's okay, ya know? This isn't the drama you're making it out to be."

"I thought you said he was annoying," Inoichi said, suddenly finding the whole situation funny.

"She called him annoying?" his wife added, unable to hide her grin. "This _is_ serious!"

"I know-" Inoichi started to agree, only to stop and watch his daughter storm out the back door in a huff. Suddenly, he started laughing.

"Be careful! We love you! Even if you are annoying," his wife added while laughing.

"SHUT UP!" Ino called back as the door slammed shut behind her.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was in a bad mood. 

This was not a good thing, much the same way as when Anko was in a good mood. It was a cosmic law, like the one that said the sun rose in the east and set in the west. The natural order of the world seemed unbalanced when such an event occurred, Shinobi and civilians also had a tendency to scatter when such an event occurred.

Ino and Shino had both been surprised at the malevolence that radiated from the orange-clad boy, but Naruto had paid them very little heed. He was too busy mulling over Anko's prank and how best to get her back for such an atrocity. The leading contenders were itching powder in her underwear -which he thought she might not actually wear- and putting a hair removal chemical into her shampoo or conditioner.

"That'd show her!" Naruto said without thinking, grinning almost viciously at the image of a bald Anko. Then suddenly he realized that it would probably be best to do both at the same time. "HELL YEAH!"

"Geez, you're still loud."

Turning at the familiar-sounding voice, Naruto found himself facing Kiba, who was flanked by a bored Sasuke and an irritated Sakura. "Oi, Kiba!" Then before he could continue his greeting he was promptly shoved aside as Ino moved to hug Sasuke.

Stumbling, he shot the girl a glare, then felt a very strong urge to plunge a kunai into Sasuke. Shaking that off, he turned his attention to Sakura, only to be unsurprisingly ignored as the two girls got into a shouting match over Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Seething, Naruto turned and started walking, his bad mood worsening. Why was it always that pathetic bastard?! What was so damn special about that prick? So what if he was tall, a genius and had a famous clan. He was nothing! Naruto could take him with one hand tied behind his back while eating ramen!

Needless to say, Sasuke pissed the blond off something fierce.

"Hey Naruto," Kiba said loudly from back near Shino. "Sakura said that she saw you and Ino shopping together a while back."

"Huh?" Naruto said, turning to glare at the boy. "Oh! Yeah, she dragged me clothes shoppin-urk!"

"What the hell are you saying?!" Ino shouted, while choking him from behind. Naturally, he was clutching at her arm, kicking his legs and trying to free himself.

"Oooh, so it was you! See, Sasuke-kun, I told you they were dating." Sakura said sweetly.

Naruto choked even louder as Ino's arm squeezed his neck even tighter.

"It was not a date!" Ino shouted loudly, "His jacket was a mess and I was tired of seeing orange!"

"Ahuh," Sakura said, grinning. "You don't have to lie, we understand. Plus, we all know what they say about clothes shopping, so it's pointless."

"Urk-What-Ino-stop-gerroffme-they say?" Naruto managed, gasping out the last few words as Ino finally released her hold and turned away in a huff. Okay, he was seriously going to have to find out why in the hell she could treat him like that.

Sakura, grinning in a rather annoying fashion, nodded seriously, holding a finger up. "Clothes shopping: kissing friends; shoe shopping: more than kissing friends; jewelry shopping-"

"-run!" Kiba shouted, supplying his own unique perspective on Sakura's scale of intimacy.

Sakura shot him a glare, then lifted her palms up and closed her eyes as she continued. "Basically, if you're shopping for clothes together, you're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, eyes wide.

"Stop lying, you big forehead!" Ino shouted as well.

"I'm not lying, Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted back, looking affronted. "Ask anybody!"

As both girls squared off, while Kiba and Akamaru retreated and Shino, along with Sasuke, calmly walked away, Naruto ran his hands through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around the concept that Sakura had just told him. She had to be lying, right, but Sakura never -well, okay, she lied sometimes-. Still, she had to be wrong. Only... she was never wrong.

So, was she telling the truth? Why would she lie about something like that? To annoy Ino of course!

Realization dawning on him, along with the anxiety that had been building relaxing, he turned to explain this to Ino when he found them in mid-fight. "Girls," the blond muttered in frustration before turning to continue walking growing even more irritated when he realized that Sasuke was walking beside him.

That was okay, though; soon enough they'd be in the exams, and Naruto was sure he'd get the chance to kick the prick's ass. He smiled cruelly, imagining some very vicious things he would do to the pretty boy.

"Is there any reason you're grinning like a maniac?" Sasuke suddenly asked, his tone bored.

"Yeah," Naruto said brightly. "I was just thinking about how much I'm looking forward to kicking your ass."

"Heh, sure," Sasuke said, not glancing away from the building. "A loser like you couldn't even scratch my forehead protector."

"Oi, I hit your chin!" Naruto shouted glaring at the Uchiha.

"Lucky shot," Sasuke returned glaring back.

"Lucky shot?" Naruto said angrily and then grabbing the boys arm jerked him around so that they were face to face. "You want to fight right now, you prick? Wanna see how much of a lucky shot it was?!"

"If you think you can do it," Sasuke said challengingly.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto..." Ino suddenly said in trepidation. "I don't think you should-"

"Be quiet Yamanaka," Sasuke snapped without looking away from Naruto. "This is between real ninja, not wannabes."

"Oi, she is a ninja, and don't you tell her to be quiet!" Naruto snapped, shoving the genius roughly.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sasuke snapped back, shoving Naruto.

"This!" Naruto shouted and, within the space of a heartbeat, he had a kunai in hand, matched by Sasuke.

"Stop!" two girls shouted at the same time as a swarm of bugs found their way to the two arguing boys.

Naruto froze, eyes never leaving the other boy's face, his kunai an inch from Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke's own kunai was an inch from Naruto's stomach. It was one of those tense moments where all of Naruto's training from Anko demanded to strike, craved it.

"This conflict is pointless," Shino said in that bland tone he always seemed to use. "However, if you wish to continue, then might I suggest you do it in the Exam?"

"Feh," Sasuke said slipping his weapon back into his holster.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered, roughly pocketing his kunai while giving Sasuke a dark glare.

"Oi! Did a swarm of bugs just come out of your coat?" Kiba suddenly shouted, breaking the serious moment between the two groups.

Sasuke, however, turned and stormed away from the two teams, prompting Sakura and Kiba to follow. Naruto remained where he was for several minutes, studying the group and then snorted, following after them, not saying another word. Mentally, however, he had decided to skin Sasuke the first chance he got.

* * *

Flip. 

Flip.

Flip.

Flip.

Anko caught her kunai on the downward spin, balancing it precariously on the tip of her finger. A slight frown marred her features; she was disappointed that she could still only manage four flips before having to catch the weapon. Sighing, she pushed her finger yet again, launching the weapon into the air, where it flipped four times before she caught it yet again.

"Well, at least I don't have the idiot squad around anymore," the attractive assassain muttered, remembering, with great annoyance, Team Seven. She couldn't decide who was worse, the smug slut Kurenai or that smug prick of an Uchiha.

Anger welling up inside her, Anko hurled her kunai away, coming close to piercing the crotch of one Hatake Kakashi, who didn't even look up from his book. "Ahah, I hope that wasn't because of anything I did."

"Maybe," Anko muttered glaring at the masked man. "So, why are you here?"

Kakashi nodded, looking up from his book as he joined her in leaning against the wall. "To let you know that the Hokage would like to speak with you after the first test."

"What does that old man want now?" Anko grumbled, crossing her arms and scowling.

"I'm not at liberty to say." Kakashi said, before pushing off the wall. "Anyway, say hi to Naruto for me... I have to get back to work."

"Sure," Anko muttered, her eyes dropping to his butt. "By the way, nice ass, Kakashi." Whether it was due to her comment or his own mysterious nature, the silver haired Jōnin promptly disappeared with a puff of smoke and a choking sound.

Sighing, she produced yet another kunani and, with a flick of her wrist, balanced it on her finger, then turned her attention to the far doorway. Seconds later, Team Nine entered, a scowling Naruto in the lead, heading directly for her. "So, I guess Naruto made it huh?"

"Huh?" Ino managed with a blink.

"Nothing princess," Anko shot back as she slipped the kunai back into her weapons pouch. "So, you guys ready for this test?"

"Of course," Ino said, glancing at Shino who merely noded.

Naruto, however, remained silent and fixed her with a look of intense dislike. "You stripped me naked, nailed my sheets to the bed and put me in a room full of girls while I was sleeping."

"You can't blame me, you stupid brat. You started it with the laxatives," Anko responded dryly.

"You force fed me laxatives while I was sleeping," Naruto said in a forced calm.

"You put plastic over the toilet," Anko answered, smirking. "What are you going to do about it?" Naruto paused, as if giving her question serious thought and then suddenly lunged at her. Anko, of course, dodged the first punch, blocked the kick, caught him with a palm heel in the chin...

Things went on in this vein -with Naruto actually managing to hit her shoulder once- for another minute or so before Anko finally pinned him to the floor with her foot.

Hard.

"Well, you seem fired up," Anko chirped, ignoring the shocked look on Ino's face and her heavy breathing. Instead, she focused on the feeling in her chest, which she took to be pride, that stemmed from her student finally being able to hit her. Never mind that it was just a glancing blow and she had just barely been paying attention.

Any lingering doubts she might have had about Naruto, or her own teaching methods, were erased.

"A-anko-sensei..." Ino managed, respectfully looking at the woman. "We have to take the exam now..."

"She is correct," Shino added, in what sounded like worry.

Easing her foot off of the blond, she grinned, watching as he angrily climbed to his feet and glared at her with more malice than she thought possible. "When this exam is over, I'm going to kick your ass..."

"Ahuh, sure you will...Don't go making promises you can't keep," Anko taunted, amused at the way his left eye twitched. The blond even opened his mouth to shout something at her, possibly even attack her, when Ino slapped a hand over his mouth and, with Shino's help, dragged him through the doors into the examination room.

Anko just smiled. "Good luck Ototo..." then, laughing, she turned and walked away, wondering if three in the afternoon was too early to start drinking.

* * *

Once beyond the doors, Naruto jerked himself out of his teams grasp and rounded on them, an angry briage on his lips. He stopped however, noting the surprised and overwhelmed looks -Or in Shino's case the way his eyebrows arched- they had. Blinking he wondered what exactly had shocked those two into such a state. 

Turning, he blinked, only to have a wave of amazement wash over him.

The room was large, filled with desks and, most importantly, countless ninja... most of whom were glaring at them with looks that could kill. Sadly for them, once the amazement had faded Naruto, felt very little else; their killer glares were nothing compared to Anko's torture. Turning to say something along this line to Shino and Ino he, blinked, finding the girl still frozen and the boy standing almost ramrod straight.

"Geez, its just a room full of genin,"

"Naruto, like, this isn't the Academy. These are serious ninja," Ino snapped, glaring at him.

"Good, 'cause I'm serious too." Naruto said in response, crossing his arms.

"Ino is right, Naruto. We can not take these ninja lightly," Shino said with a slight shift in posture. "Especially if you truly wish to become Hokage."

Naruto glared at the boy, then at Ino. Fine, they wanted serious? They wanted him to take these idiots seriously? Turning he glared at the room. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Then, thrusting a finger at the mass of ninja, he struck a heroic pose. "I won't lose to any of you bastards!!!! You got that?!"

Shaking his head and snorting in frustration, he turned away from the scene; he had more important things to deal with at the moment. For example, why he felt like he was being watched, -no, sized up- something he only noticed because Anko had done it before when they first started training.

Feeling uneasy, Naruto felt his fingers twitch towards his weapons holster when, suddenly, the feeling was gone.

Looking around, rapidly he frowned and then turned to the his team, only to discover Kiba talking enthusiastically with a stoic Sasuke while Ino and Sakura argued over some stupid hair clip.

"Geez, what is it with them?" Naruto asked himself, almost jumping when Shino answered him.

"I am in the dark as well," the bug user said before his tone lowered slightly. "You did feel someone watching us, correct?"

"Oi, yeah, but how'd you-"

"My family can detect genjutsu," Shino explained in a low tone. "There is a strong genjutsu in this room, and I do not think it wise to alert the others."

"Huh, why not?" Naruto said, turning to look at his teammate curiously.

"Because it could be part of the exam."

"Oh," Naruto nodded, frowning slightly as he realized that was a good point. Still didn't feel right not to tell the others, or at least Ino. She was his team mate after all. Turning to mention this to Shino, he was brought up short by the sound of a loud, commanding voice.

"Quiet down, you pathetic bastards!"

Turning, Naruto watched as several people appeared in a puff of smoke, though his attention focused immediately on the largest one in the middle. The man was dressed in a long black coat, some kind of black head wrapping, and sported several scars on his face. Most importantly to Naruto, however, was the fact this man reminded him strongly of both Anko and Kakashi, someone to watch.

He was proven correct a minute later when the man smiled in a way Naruto had come to associate with Anko before she started some sadistic torture, and started talking. "I'm Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chūnin exam's first test. You will obey my rules. You will not kill each other without my permission. If you don't follow my rules, I will fail you immediately, and if you do kill each other without my permission, I WILL kill and/or torture you as I see fit."

A few of the nearby ninja chuckled; others didn't.

Naruto, after the jolt of memory at Ibiki's name, quickly noted which ones were among the few who knew a promise when they heard one. Before he could finish that, however, he felt someone studying him once more and turned, almost startled to find Sasuke staring at him intently. A little too intently for Naruto to feel comfortable.

Snorting, Naruto turned away from the Uchiha and, instead, focused on the man who was studying all of them like they were dissected frogs.

"Now, let's start the exam," Ibiki said. "You are to take a seat at random, making sure to separate yourself from your team. If you don't, we will move you. Do not try to fool us with henges, genjutsu or anything else you might have in mind. We will notice."

Naruto blinked, then toyed with the idea of trying the variation of his sexy no jutsu that Anko had forced him into practicing to replace the henge. Ultimately, though, he didn't want to reveal something like that move and have it fail utterly. Jerking himself out of that line of thought, he hurriedly scrambled for one of the remaining seats, only to find himself sitting next to Sasuke.

The dark -haired boy glanced up and, remaining quiet, looked away.

"Great," Naruto mumbled to himself, wondering darkly what would happen next. Oh, maybe those pictures Anko had taken yesterday could be passed around. Or a written test, that would be just perfect.

"Here," Sasuke suddenly said.

Turning, Naruto saw the paper in the boy's hand and then looked around to similar sheets being handed down the other rows. "A WRITTEN TEST?!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet to stare at Ibiki. "You're joking!"

"Sit down," the large man said, trying and failing to intimidate the boy into sitting. "Who's your sensei?"

"A psychotic bitch," Naruto retorted darkly, crossing his arms.

"Ah, Anko. That explains it," Ibiki said in understanding. "Then, would you sit down and relax? This isn't a written test, I assure you."

"Oh," Naruto managed, flopping back into his seat to stare sulkily at the man, a little amazed and worried that the man had known immediately whom he had been talking about.

"As I said, this is not a written test," Ibiki explained, while they wrote. "This test is exactly three hours long, and each team will be taking this exam in total isolation from each other. Those sheets of paper are for you to write one personal secret that you do not want an enemy obtaining."

"Huh? That's the exam?" one boy said in surprise.

"Don't interrupt," Ibiki said, shooting a glare in that direction before continuing. "Make sure that you do not allow others to see this secret."

"But, why do we have to write a secret?" a yet another random ninja demanded.

"First, because I said so, and second, to simulate the danger of failing to maintain a village secret from an enemy. Each of you will be led individually to the room designated for your team. One of you will be replaced randomly with a spy, who, by using a specialized jutsu, will be nearly undetectable. If you allow the spy to get the information through accident or incompetence, you and your entire team fail."

"WHAT?!"

Ibiki grinned coldly. "As extra incentive, not only does failure keep you from participating in any future exams, it will also result in each of your secrets being told to everyone who passes this test."

"You can't do that!" a Stone-nin shouted jumping to his feet.

"My rules," Ibiki grumbled. "If you want to test me, say something else. I'll fail you now."

Naruto looked around, unsurprised to see everyone present, save a few, frozen in fear of failure. Shifting in his seat, the blond turned back to his, so far blank, sheet, wondering what secret he had that he could write. In all honesty, secrets and Naruto did not mix.

After a few more minutes of serious thought, during which he considered making one up, he covered the paper with his free hand and began scribbling. Finished, he carefully folded and refolded the paper, in the way that Anko had taught him, then looked around innocently.

"Now, as your name is called, you will get up, walk out the door and head for the room number given," Ibiki said leveling his gaze on them as the last ninja finished. "This is the beginning of the test and, from now on, be careful who you trust."

That said, the large man motioned for two men, each holding a clipboard, to step forward and begin calling names.

"Hino Yasuhiko, Room One. Tsubaki Toshiro, Room Two. Komiya Eiji, Room Three. Nakamura Takashi, Room four. Ooshima Hiroshi, Room Five. Uzumaki Naruto, Room six. Hyuuga Neji, Room seven. Uchiha Sasuke, Room eight. Utagaibukai Noga, Room nine..."

Naruto, halfway out of the room already, turned, his gaze immediately locking onto a smirking Noga. Hackles rising, the blond seriously considered darting back there and beating that boy black and blue, but instead forced himself to keep walking. He hadn't forgotten that boy, or what Noga had said about being the Hokage, and Naruto silently swore to kick the boy's ass.

"Hn, that's your room, dobe," Sasuke suddenly muttered.

Caught up in his anger at Noga, the blond merely grunted a response and then blindly strode into his room. Then, realizing what Sasuke had called him, Naruto turned to shout a retort at the prodigy when his world suddenly went black and he hit the ground with a dull thump.

* * *

_Meanwhile (yes meanwhile)..._

Inoichi was humming a happy tune, pleased with the world. His daughter was off attempting to take part in the Chūnin exams, which both thrilled and terrified him. He was definitely a proud father, after all, not many rookie Genin could boast about taking the exam after only six months. Even if she didn't make it, it was still something to brag about, and that was exactly what he had planned.

Choza and Shikaku would both be at the local bar, along with most of the other free Jōnin, placing bets and drinking, waiting to hear who cleared the first stage. Inoichi was almost rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Both had son's who were genin, but neither boy had been allowed to enter the exam. After all the ribbing they had given him for having a girl, he could finally get back at them.

Karma was good.

Turning his mind away from his two friends, he instead mused on the mysterious 'Naruto'. The name was familiar, but he couldn't place it exactly, which didn't mean much in a village the size of Konoha. Still, the name wasn't common, so he _should_ be able to place a name to the face, especially if the kid came from a family of ninja.

Shrugging it off, he sighed, his protective side swearing that he would meet the boy first chance he got. His fatherly duty demanded that he confront this unknown teenage boy and lay the law down; his wife demanded that he leave it alone. In the end, he could wait until after the Chūnin exams, but he and this 'Naruto' would definitely be having a discussion soon.

Hearing the ruckus up ahead, thoughts about his daughter and Naruto were driven out of his mind; he could hear the heavy betting going on. Rubbing his hands gleefully, he sped up, slipping into the bar to join in the betting pool. There was a decent sized group, some of whom were still in ANBU gear and military police uniforms, crowded before a large bar where an even larger board was hanging and a man was taking bets.

"Anyone else?" The bar man shouted. "Last call, the exam starts in ten minutes!"

"I put fifty ryou on Sasuke-kun's team passing!"

"Fifty on Team Seven," the bar man echoed back, turning to write. "Five to twenty odds, anyone else?"

"Seventy-five ryou on Naruto-san's team passing!" one of the ANBU shouted, echoed by his buddies.

"Seventy-five on Team Nine!" the bar man said. "Five to twenty odds, anyone else?"

Inoichi blinked, impressed that his daughter's team actually had the same odds of passing as a Genius like Uchiha Sasuke. It was also slightly unnerving to know that his daughter was apparently that dangerous, which was not a good thing for any parent. Still, he had better show his support..." A hundred ryou on my daughter Ino's team!"

"A hundred on Team Nine!" the bar man echoed back.

Satisfied Inoichi turned and, nodding at a few acquaintances, sidled up to the bar where drinks were being served, finding both friends laughing about something. Ordering with smug satisfaction, he took sake and cup and moved down to join his friends who turned at his approach.

"Hey, Inoichi!" Chouza said happily, fishing in his nearby bowl of bar snacks. "We were just talking about your daughter's team!"

"Oh?" Inoichi said, pouring his sake carefully before glancing at the other two. "I am rather proud of her! Only six months as a Genin and she's already good enough for the exams."

"...Actually, I don't think that's the reason why she's involved." Shikaku said, gulping his own sake. "Her sensei isn't known for patience."

"Hayate-san?" Inoichi blinked staring at the two men. "I know he's sick, but I met him. He's a perfectly good sensei."

"Yeah," Chouza said, his lips twitching as he fought back his laughter. "Mitarashi Anko isn't, though. That's your daughter's new sensei!"

"WHAT!?" Inoichi shouted, his fingers slackening enough to allow his cup to fall with a loud crack. Staring at the two in surprise, he turned quickly, eyes straining to see the sensei name beside the team numbers. "Kami, that's not... No, no... Oh, heaven help Ino."

"You think that's bad?" Shikaku said with some amusement. "Look at her team mates."

"Huh?" Inoichi said, glancing at his friend before looking back at the board. Aburame Shino and... Uzumaki Naruto. He frowned, thinking that that name was now very familiar for some reason. He turned to say something to his old team mates when he snapped back around, eyes widening in surprise and horror. "Waitagoddamnedminute... UZUMAKI Naruto?! That! The kid in the hospital?! Fuck! FUCK!"

He continued in this vein for several minutes, eventually progressing to frothing at the mouth, followed shortly by fainting.

"I was sure he'd go straight to heart attack," Shikaku said, passing Chouza thirty ryou. "The big sissy."

* * *

Coming back to the waking world, Ino grimaced, noting the cool floor against her skin. Shivering, she eased herslelf onto her back, wincing as she stared up at the pure white ceiling. Sitting up, she frowned, noting that the entire room was the same pure white. Reaching up to hold the side of her head, she winced, wondering what exactly was going on. 

Nobody had mentioned being knocked out.

"Oi, you're awake!"

Jerking, which was a bad idea, Ino looked up from the spot in front of her to her teammate's face. For a moment, he didn't look real, like some damn cartoon. This, however, was because of his bright clothes standing out against the white walls; she was pretty sure even she would look like a cartoon in this situation.

"Ino?"

"I'm fine," Ino said, holding a hand up while motioning for him to lower his volume. "Kami, what happened? Last thing I remember was seeing you on the ground when I came in."

"I saw much the same thing," Shino suddenly injected, drawing Ino's attention. "I think it is part of the exam, a way to ensure that one of us could be replaced properly."

Ino nodded and then leaned back against a nearby wall, a bit awed that even Shino looked like a cartoon in this room, while mentally trying to work out what to do now. Shino's explanation had reminded her that at least one of these boys was not who he seemed. Naruto, however, seemed more intent on pacing and ranting under his breath, as if completely unaware that he should be trying to find the spy.

Now, Yamanaka Ino was by no stretch of the imagination a genius, even if she was talented with a sword, but she already knew how to figure this situation out. After all, her family had already created the perfect jutsu for this situation: the Shintenshin no Jutsu.

It was the only logical choice in discovering the spy, even if there were risks to using it.

First, if it failed, which was likely, she could potentially alert her target. Second, if she was wrong and the spy noticed her trick, he would be on alert or attack her real body. Still, it was the only option they had, and Ino had to decide on which boy to use it.

That was not going to be an easy task either; neither one seemed out of character. It was a tough choice, one she wasn't sure she could make, in all honesty. Still, it had to be done, and that meant, since she lacked real clues, she would have to use it on Naruto.

Mainly because her father had always told her to never try the Shintenshin on an Aburame. Which wasn't surprising since even Ino now knew that Aburame and their bugs were connected by some sort of constant psychic bond. It would safer to try it on Naruto and, if she was wrong about the blond, she would have the strongest member of the team under her control to protect her real body.

That settled, she gathered her resolve and nerves, then surreptitiously moved her hands into position and clenched her eyes, silently mouthing the words to the jutsu.

Then, just like that, she was free of her body; weightless, free, and moving toward the unsuspecting Naruto. It felt like hours, though it was only minutes, but finally she was there and, without preamble, she attempted to slip into his mind.

A second later, her head snapped back from being reflected faster than her mind had been able to 'blink'.

That was when she felt a touch of panic. Ino had been in several minds. In all of that time, all of those minds, she had learned of three things they had in common: the mind was a type of maze, that it could not be read like a book, and that even if she couldn't maintain control, she could enter for a moment.

Uzumaki Naruto's mind, however, in that split second of contact, was like nothing she had ever experienced. It was hidden, locked away completely. The only way to describe it, in terms she could understand, was a black wall.

A sheer wall of darkness.

Blinking away the stars of pain that danced in front her eyes, she checked on the blond and found him agitatedly shifting around. Glancing at Shino, she was surprised to see him looking at her in what was his version of a questioning look.

Ino frowned and turned her attention back to Naruto, and, forming the seals, tried once more. It seemed to take even longer this time, and when she finally did reach the blond, she braced herself. It happened even faster and this time: her head snapped back hard enough to thump against the wall behind her.

Reaching up to hold her head, she stared at the now concerned looking boy with awe, and, possibly, terror. How could anyone have built such a wall in their mind? Did he build it on purpose? Why? How?

"Ino? Hey Ino, you okay?" Naruto asked in concern moving over to crouch next to her.

"Huh? Yeah," Ino managed, forcing her hands to stop shaking. "It's just starting to get to me, I guess."

"Oi, it's not that big a deal!" Naruto said, touching her shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"Yeah," Ino agreed reflexively, while mentally she was rambling about what she had encountered. As far as she knew, nobody had ever been able to completely block access to their minds from a Yamanaka. Tuning his reassuring, as well as loud, words out, Ino reached up to rub her temples.

"Not that big a deal," Ino muttered looking at the blond who was now rambling on about ramen. Still, at least Ino felt fairly certain that Naruto was not the spy.

After all, nobody could _act_ **that** enraptured with noodles.

* * *

Shino watched Naruto closely, wondering at the boy and his apparently ever-shifting moods. Shaking it, off he turned his mind to the matter at hand, finding the spy. Or, more correctly, he mused, how to alert Naruto to the fact that Ino had to be the spy. After all, Shino had yet to encounter another person that could provoke his bugs into biting. 

Plus, he had never known Ino to be that quiet and still, not even yesterday. She had to be a spy, and a bad one at that. Yet, he wondered about that. The problem the situation presented was interesting; to discover the spy would be easy enough if you knew your team halfway decently; it was alerting your true team mate that was difficult.

Plus, as Naruto was proving, these rooms were designed to increase discomfort. Even Shino could feel his unease increasing with each passing moment locked within this room. If it wasn't for his family constantly reassuring him that the walls were not moving closer together, he might have actually been panicking. It was as if this entire room was designed to create panic and increase an already stressful situation.

"Ok, like... I can't take this much longer." Ino suddenly said getting to her feet and glaring at Shino.

"Unless we discover for sure who the spy is, we will have to," Shino explained, standing as well, unwilling to allow a spy to hold any leverage over him.

"Well, that's easy!" Ino snapped, glaring at him. "All we have to do is look at the clues: One, who in this room is acting out of character? Two, who in this room would be easiest to replace? Three-"

"-all of those could describe any of us," Shino explained calmly. "The only person in this room that I know for sure is who they appear to be is Naruto... which leaves you as the spy."

"No way," Ino said angrily, rounding on him. "You're the spy! You haven't talked to a bug yet, and the real Shino is _always_ talking to a bug!"

"...unless I am doing so without being obvious," Shino responded coolly. "Perhaps in an attempt to lure a spy into the open?"

"I'm not the spy!" Ino shouted, advancing toward him slightly.

"And I say I am not the spy..." Shino said with a casual shrug. "If we both agree that Naruto is not the spy, then we must agree that one of us is. We will have to prove who we are."

"Wait, how do you guys know-" Naruto started to ask before Shino cut him off

"My family reacts to you in a way that can't be faked," Shino explained calmly.

"Plus, like, you're the _only_ person that could sound in love with ramen," Ino added dryly, glaring at Shino. "And you have this weird habit of nodding to yourself when you think, and you tend to keep your eyes closed. Those are things that only a Yamanaka or an Uchiha could notice, and neither would be in this room right now."

Shino paused, then arched an eyebrow. Now _that_ sounded like Ino, which made him wonder if they hadn't been going about this all wrong. "Perhaps we are overthinking this problem."

"What does that mean?" Ino said, fixing him with her stare.

"It could be that there is no spy among us."

"You would say that. You are the most likely to be the spy after all," Ino retorted fiercely.

"I think what we should concentrate on is proving if there is a spy among us or not, not who that spy is."

"Ahuh, and, like, how do we manage that?"

"...That I am not sure of," Shino said after pausing for a moment. The theory was good, but difficult to prove.

"I know how to solve this problem," Naruto said with a grin, looking between the two.

"Oh? I gotta hear this," Ino said with a huff, crossing her arms.

"I, too, am curious about your solution," Shino said calmly, wondering in silence about how, exactly, such an atypical person would go about solving such a complicated problem. Especially when such a person had a tendency just to hit first and worry about details later.

"Oi, it's easy!" Naruto said, nodding as he rubbed his chin. "We just gotta prove if there's a spy here or not right?"

"Yes," Shino said, lowering his head slightly.

"Yeah," Ino agreed darkly, shooting Shino a distrusting glare.

"Then it's easy," the orange-clad boy said, his tone growing intent. "The only way to prove it is for one of us to reveal a secret to the others. If there is a spy, then we fail; if not, we pass."

"That is a tad too simplistic Naruto," Shino explained slowly. "None of us can be sure if we are who we say we are. Gambling our advancement is not wise. If this were a village secret, would you be so willing to share it?"

"Oi, trust me," Naruto said confidently.

"But-" Ino started to object before Naruto cut her off, his tone determined.

"My secret is, I like pork ramen more than miso ramen!"

Shino blinked, unable to believe that the boy had just taken such a large leap of faith. From the look of surprise on Ino's face, she couldn't believe it either. The moment lasted another minute, and then the door opened and a ninja wearing a green flak vest beckoned them to follow.

Shino silently led the way, aware that Naruto seemed a bit too smug about something. It wasn't as if he didn't have faith in his family, but these were highly trained ninja that were testing them. The possibility that they could trick them was very real. He wasn't the only one to think that, either, if Ino's whispered beratings of Naruto were anything to judge by.

"What have you done? Are you a complete idiot?! Now we'll never be Chūnin!"

"Oi, give it a rest."

"Ino, I am sure that Naruto has done only what he believed he had to," Shino said, not looking behind him. He would just have to trust his family and his teammate.

"Whatever," the girl muttered. "He's still an idiot."

That merely set Naruto off, and Shino couldn't help but sigh, noting that even the escort sighed with him. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who found the two blonds' arguing annoying, which wasn't surprising. Both had rather explosive tempers and naturally loud voices.

It was something Shino had adjusted to slightly over the last three days, but it was still a bit much. Thankfully, they were forced to stop as their Chūnin escort opened the door and ushered them all back into the main room. Gathered in groups were a handful of teams, the bulk of which appeared to be Kusa, Iwa with a scattering of Konoha ninja.

"You three, don't just stand there gawking," Ibiki suddenly snapped, eyes narrowed. "Sit your asses down and be quiet."

"Oi, why don't you just kiss my-mmmph!" Naruto started to say before Ino clamped a hand over his mouth and apologized while dragging the blond behind Shino.

Shino, on the other hand, was curious about the timing of Ibiki's response and even more so about the whole situation. If they had failed, then they should have been told and sent on their way, but this didn't exactly feel as if they had failed. As if to prove this point, the grizzled man up front crossed his arms and started talking.

"This exam started with exactly one hundred and forty-four participants. That was a total of forty-eight teams, each with three members. Each team has spent, at the minimum, three hundred and thirty-six hours together, risking their lives for each other." Ibiki paused, glancing from team to team before continuing. "Of these forty-eight teams, we now have only thirty that are qualified to continue with this exam."

"Wait, we passed?!" Sakura asked in amazement, and there was a general muttering of agreement.

"Of course you passed," Ibiki said with a small chuckle, and Shino was reminded of both Anko and Naruto with their ever-shifting personalties. "Each of you proved your ability and, whether knowingly or unknowingly, solved the problem of the spy."

"Huh?" A girl sporting four ponytails managed, blinking rapidily.

"This test was designed to test your ability to work under pressure, the stress and paranoia of not knowing who to trust. Your ability to gather information from people who could misinterpret that as hostile and attack," Ibiki explained with a sweeping gesture.

"But...we didn't have a spy!" Kiba said in exasperation.

Shino, who had been lost in thought, quickly snapped back to attention, noting the agreeing sounds filling the room. So there hadn't been a single spy on any of these teams? Well, that was to be expected, but only on the surface. Statistically, there should have been a handful of teams that _had_ a spy.

"Of course not," Ibiki said in amusement. "None of the teams ever had a spy. It was all a trick because, as Chūnins, you'll be given with important information. You need to have an ability to check on those you have doubts about without letting on. Those teams that failed, the one's that turned on each other, they weren't worthy of the Chūnin rank."

Reaching up, Ibiki removed his bandanna, revealing the most horrorific vision possible. Scars, burns, scabbed-over holes.

"As Chūnin, you will be faced with that and a hundred other serious decisions. You'll have to know your team as well as you know yourself, if not better. Because, in war, secrets and information are worth not just your team's life, but the lives of thousands of your fellow shinobi."

Shino frowned, then nodded in understanding, as did several others. So, he had been right, there had never been a spy. It also hammered home his feelings and the knowledge that he would have to make it a point to trust his family and teammates even more. A single moment of doubt could prove disastrous; even Naruto seemed to share that understanding.

"So, we really passed?" Ino said hesitantly in amazement.

"Yes."

"YES!" Ino shouted, glomping Naruto before jumping to her feet and pointing at Sakura. "Take that, you big-fore headed bimbo! Sasuke-kun will be mine!"

"What was that, piggy?" Sakura shouted back, jumping to her feet as well.

"Hmmm... Suddenly, the second test is looking a tad more interesting," a new voice said, interrupting the arguments, and everyone turned to stare at the masked, one-eyed, silver-haired man now standing next to Ibiki, reading a red book.

"Oi, it's the masked pervert!" Naruto suddenly said, thrusting his finger at the man.

"Masked pervert?" Ino echoed, blinking, while Shino arched an eyebrow. He was finally beginning to notice a trend in how Naruto referred to some people.

"Yeah, he reads really naughty books in public!" Naruto exclaimed, despite the fact that almost everybody was now staring at him -except for the man who was busy reading and giggling-. "It's kinda weird, though, he's really strong and everything..."

"Huh? Oh Naruto, you passed?" Kakashi said, cutting him off. "I suppose Anko won't have to castrate you after all, huh?"

* * *

Brief Note:  
Yes, to those readers that have emailed me, I know that the Yondaime is Naruto's dad. I have known this, possibly longer than you. However, this fic was started before that detail was revealed and in all honesty, it plays such a small roll in the fic that its not worth the effort to go about changing the various references. If enough people complain though, I may give in...but its not likely.


	17. Chapter 16: The Scond Test: Survival

Naruto: Altered History  
Chapter 16:  
-_The Chūnin Exams:  
The Second Test: Survival_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Seated on top of an enclosed booth, the massive fenced in forest -that the Hokage required that he use- behind him and the various ninja in front of him, Hatake Kakashi causally flicked the page of his Icha Icha. This was not to say that he wasn't watching those ninja present for this exam, being ANBU Commander allowed him to divide his attention equally after all.

Of all the groups, only two ninja appeared undaunted by the ominous atmosphere that extended from the tainted forest. One of course, was the red haired child called Gaara who had been driven to near complete insanity due to his demon and the other naturally was Uzumaki Naruto who had spent more time with Mitriashi Anko than anybody ever should.

"Ahem," the polite voice of his assistant proctor said from the enclosed booth gaining his attention "Kakashi-sama, isn't it about time to explain things to them?"

"Right, right," Kakashi said, eye closing happily as he looked up to address the gathered ninja "Welcome to the second stage of the exam, practice area fourty-four. Also known as the Forest of Death."

There was a ripple through the group, but still Naruto and Gaara showed a frightening lack of intimidation.

Opening his eye once more, Kakashi beamed at the gathered ninja continuing his explination "Before I explain everything, your Villages have accepted that with the use of this stage there will be deaths. If any of you want to quit, now is your only chance, otherwise you either pass or die." 

"Oi, just hurry up and tell us what we have to do." Naruto's voice, almost biligerant, rang out.

"Well, if you speak for everyone ok then." Kakashi said, sweeping the group to see if anyone wanted to quit. Finding none, his visible eye went emotionless as he began to explain the rules. "This exam is the ultimate surivial test and it will be within this area. The rules are very simple, each three-man team will be given three scrolls. These scrolls bear the name of a ninja particpating in this exam and each team's set of scrolls will be matched so that two belong to that two and that the third will belong to someone else."

"Are you just trying to complicate this?" a loud voice interupted, and Kakashi didn't even bother glancing at them though a sudden whimpering sound could be heard from the white dog on their head. 

"Each team will then have to locate the third scroll that belongs to their team and head for the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. This ensures that each team will have to fight each other. To pass this test, there are three requirements. One, each team must have a scroll that bears that members name. Two, each team must be whole. Three, only four teams with the best time will be allowed to advance further."

"Is there anything that would disqualify us?" An older boy, from Kusa it appeared, asked.

"Disqualify?" Kakashi asked, as if the concept was amusing "well, besides dying...the only other thing I can see is destorying a scroll."

"So, other than destroying a scroll and dying," the boy repeated as if to be clear "anything goes in there?"

"Yes, once you're in the Forest and until you reach the tower it's all about survival. So feel free to maim, torture, and do whatever else you feel is needed to ensure your advancement." Kakashi said blandly before holding a finger up, "but please keep in mind that everyone else is going to be doing the same and will most likely respond in kind to your actions."

"Hurry up," Gaara commanded blankly, his flat green eyes boring into a nearby Kusa ninja.

"Sure, if you think you're up to this," Kakashi shot back, eye curving up happily "ok, so one team at a time come to the booth, get your scrolls and you'll be escorted to one of the gates.".  
_Gate Fourteen..._

"You find out which one has the scroll we need Ino?" Naruto asked absently as he juggled the three scrolls they had been assigned. 

"Yeah," the girl said quietly, fingering the ninja-to she was wearing "Shino already has a bug on the team. We'll be ready to go once they tell us to start."

"Great," Naruto said tossing her the scroll that bore her name and then Shino the one that bore his "so which team was it?"

"One of the Kusa teams." Ino said absnetly glancing at him "what are you going to do witht that one?"

"Oh this?" Naruto said holding the scroll up absently "well, I'm think I'll probably give it to the first person I see and let them deal with whoever the Gaara guy is."

* * *

_Forest of Death: Day Two, location: thirty miles from the entrance gates... _

Ino had known from the first glance that the forest was not to be taken lightly. The trees were larger and more twisted than anything she had ever seen before. The rusted fence, with all of those warning signs and the barbed wire, had proclaimed the danger clearly. It might even have been her imagination, but she could swear there had been monstrous shapes moving in the gloom of the trees.

She had, however, apparently been the only one to notice those things. None of the other examinees had even looked away from Kakashi as he explained the concept of this exam. Well, except for Naruto, who had been busy mumbling to himself. Even after they had entered the gates, each member of their team sporting a scroll, he had seemed oblivious to the danger.

Still, they were making good time, with only five days to reach the center with their scrolls. Shino estimated that they were close.

Using a stick to poke at the fire in front of her, Ino turned her mind away from the Forest and, instead, focused on the more intriguing situation of Naruto's secret. Ever since he had admitted to giving mis-information to confirm that they had no spy, Ino had become almost obsessed with trying to figure out what his real secret was.

So far, despite rather creative guesses, she still hadn't gotten it right which frustrated her to no end.

**Snap**!

Jerking at the sound of a snapping twig, Ino whirled, hand clutching at her ninja-to tightly and half-drawing it, only to pause upon seeing Naruto returning from his latest nighttime patrol. At least, it looked like Naruto; as Shino had pointed out, it could be a real possibility for a spy to enter the team and attempt to steal their scrolls. When Naruto made the hand sign that they had agreed on, Ino eased her sword back into the scabbard and relaxed slightly.

"Oi, so things been quiet?" Naruto asked, plopping down across from her and producing a cup of his nearly-infamous instant ramen.

"Yeah," Ino agreed, rolling her eyes as she turned back to poking at the fire absently. "Hey, Naruto, do you think we'll really pass this exam?"

"Of course!" Naruto said enthusiastically without looking up from his preparations. "Shino keeps saying we have the best time! We don't have to worry about loosing our spots in the final exam or nothin'."

"Aha," Ino said looking up. "But only the four teams with the best time and all there scrolls can pass, remember? How do we know for sure that we're going to pass?"

"Oi, Ino, just have some faith okay?" Naruto said, flashing her his trademark grin. "I mean, Shino's really smart, and you're really good, too. We'll be fine!"

Snorting in exasperation, Ino rolled her eyes and turned back to the fire. He had said that last night, as well. Then again, she had been worrying last night too, which made her wonder why she instinctively waited to talk to Naruto about her worries instead of Shino.

Then, like every time she wondered, she realized the answer: Shino was very clinical about things, and he never tried to reassure her. Naruto was still realistic, but he always reassured her. Glancing up, she almost blushed at how the light from the fire highlighted his face. Shaking that off, Ino sighed and threw her stick on the fire. "I'm going to bed..."

"Awww, but you haven't even tried to guess my secret, yet!" Naruto said teasingly.

Ino blinked, then snapped her fingers; it had totally slipped her mind. It had started shortly after the first test, but Ino had been trying, and failing, to guess his real secret. Although, he did keep offering to tell his secret if Ino would tell hers, which she refused to do.

Studying the blond intently for a moment, Ino grinned and pointed at him. "I know! You're really Anko's son!"

"Er... You guessed that at lunch yesterday," Naruto said, grinning as he started on his ramen.

"Oh," Ino said, shrugging. "How about you're really a kami?"

"Nope!"

"A Gaki?"

"Hell no!"

"Sasuke-kun's bastard brother?"

"Fuck no!" Naruto shouted, choking on his ramen.

"Geez, just tell me already," Ino said crankily, unable to believe she couldn't figure this out.

"Okay," Naruto said firmly. "Just as soon as you tell me _your_ secret."

"...Goodnight," Ino said curtly and then, got up from the fireside and lay down on her sleeping mat. No way in hell was she going to tell that bastard her secrets. They were for her to know and for him to never find out. Rolling away from him, she closed her eyes as all of the mental stress and fatigue of the day carried her easily to sleep.

Usually, that would be the end of a person's problems, but not so for a Yamanaka. They had lucid dreams of stray memories from minds they had been in; it was the way their minds coped with the family jutsu. Last night, she had dreamed about the childhood of one of the examiners.

Tonight was different.

It didn't feel like a dream: though it was lucid, it held none of the feel of a dream, nor did it feel like a memory. It felt more like her own mind was trying to make something comprehensible.

At first, there was nothing but darkness: sheer, inescapable darkness. Then, a distant sound reached her. As the darkness faded, like a film being brought into focus, vague forms took shape around her, and, soon enough, she could see that she was in a nighttime forest.

Then, the noise sharpened to a dull whisper and, suddenly, the echoing sound of screams and shouts reached her.

They were wordless, meaningless, but she knew that they were the screams of people dying. Instinctively, Ino tried to wake up, but instead she was drawn as if by some unseen force toward the noise. And that was when she noticed the odd, unnatural red glow that highlighted the sky.

Before she could ponder the implications of that, she was hurled from the confines of the forest and out onto a ledge that overlooked Konoha, and terror griped her heart. Every child had heard the story, seen renditions of that night, but Ino, like others, had never really believed that the horror had been so great.

Now, laid out before her, was the Beast in all of its dark glory!

Buildings were burning, and that unearthly red fire kept growing higher and brighter, spreading despite the best efforts of the ninja. The odor of charred wood and flesh permeated the air, even up so high, the strength of it almost choking her. Worst of all, however, were the screams, the cornucopia of pain, raw and bloody. They echoed forever, etching themselves into her memory despite her attempts to block them out.

And then, through the flames and smoke, she saw it.

It was massive. No, it was gigantic! It's sheer size should have been impossible! The fur looked as if it was anything but natural, the fangs were vicious and jagged. There was a faint whistling in the air, created by the nine tails as they slashed through buildings with ease and toppled a nearby mountain, along with the massive village walls.

"T-the Kyūbi..." Ino whispered, eyes wide and body frozen in terror.

And then, that massive head turned towards her, those eyes glowing bright in the night, its mouth gapping open to allow the single, most evil growl she could imagine escape and reverberate through the air. It made her blood turn to ice, and she collapsed like a puppet that had her strings cut, feeling as if her bladder would give out at any moment.

Suddenly, Ino knew exactly what this monster was. It was a fox. It was a demon. It was death and destruction. It was unstoppable.

"Help," Ino whimpered...

...and then, suddenly, with a jerk, she was awake. Blinking rapidly, her skin clammy and her mind almost panicked, it took her what felt like a lifetime to realize that Naruto was hovering over her, his hand on her shoulder.

"Oi, Ino you okay?" Naruto said worriedly. "You were thrashing around for a while and then got really still and started...iunno, crying..."

Ino opened her mouth to shout at him that she had not been crying, but realized that she couldn't form any words. She couldn't remember how to talk! Her terror had been so deep that she had been reduced to a wild animal! What had her mind been trying to understand that it would so terrify her with every Konoha nin's worst nightmare?

"Hey, say something," Naruto said, his own tone almost panicked, while he patted her cheek softly. She stared at him for the longest moment, wondering at the warmth of his hand. "Ino, come on...This isn't funny..."

"I'm fine," Ino finally said, reaching up to move his hand away from her cheek, only to marvel at the feel of it in her hand. "I was just having a nightmare."

"You sure?" Naruto asked in concern, looking dubious, apparently unconcerned that she was holding his hand.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Ino said and then smiled, toying with one of his fingers absently before letting his hand go. "If a girl didn't know better, she could think you liked her." In response Ino was treated to the unusual sight of Naruto blushing.

"I was just worried!" he snapped and then, getting up, stormed away from her.

Ino chuckled for a moment, then felt her body go slack from lack of tension, allowing her to slump back onto her sleeping mat.

Then, in the ethereal calm that had descended over her, Ino wondered why, exactly, she had never before noticed how nicely Naruto's nose was shaped. Rolling over, she closed her eyes, but she knew that sleep would not return to her, so instead she began to think about what could have brought on her 'dream'.

It was a long night.

* * *

Gaara hated people.

It was an unspoken fact: Generally, the only reason he existed was to hate and kill. Love of the self, that was his entire existence. Someday, he knew that he would eventually turn on Kankuro and Temari, would use his sand to slowly crush the life out of them. His 'father' would be first, however, then maybe the rest of the village... Then, Kankuro and Temari.

Another genin had called Gaara insane once...Right up until the sand had drunk his blood.

"Idiot, challenging us head on?"

Gaara opened his eyes, lifting his head to stare impassively at the rain genin in front of him. It was curious; he had killed who knew how many Stone and Grass Teams, more than a few Leaf and other teams. Yet, this was the only Rain team they had encountered. How would they scream? Would they scream as his sand crushed them?

Lost in his thoughts, he paid no attention as Kankuro started talking, saying something about how pointless fighting was a waste of time.

"It doesn't matter," Gaara interrupted, staring at the men across from him in something that approached contempt. "All that appear in front of me must die."

The Rain-nin's face purpled in anger, and he pulled various umbrellas from his back, shouting about something, but Gaara watched in utter boredom as they were launched and the man started his attack. In the second it took for the thousands of needles to sail through the air to kill him, Gaara had crossed his arms and allowed his mother to appear like magic to encase him in safety.

"Impossible!" the Rain ninja said in surprise as the needles thudded into the sand barrier and ground around him.

"Is that it?" Gaara asked with restrained glee. It was time. He could hear his mother asking for blood, demanding it, and he was ready to let her have it. "I guess I'll have to make it rain blood." Gaara watched intently. It was interesting to see the faces of those he would kill right before they realized they were dead.

Some would tremble, some would stand their ground, some -like the Rain nin now rushing him- would attack. Not that it mattered; Gaara always won, and his existence always continued. With very little interest in the catching of the man, Gaara watched as he was jerked to a stop by the sand as it swirled around his legs.

Slowly, it climbed and clumped over the man, encasing him so tightly that he could barely breathe and the only thing to show was his face. Gaara liked to watch the faces of his victims, the futile hope and desperation as they were crushed to death.

Stretching his hand out towards the shocked and now- terrified ninja, he slowly clenched his hands, causing the sand to compact. The Rain ninja grimaced and then screamed outright as his bones were slowly broken and then crushed.

Gaara regarded the man for a moment, his head tilting to the side, dissatisfied with the lack of begging, and abruptly tightened his hand into a complete fist, causing the sand to finish its gruesome work. With a loud crunch, the man was killed, a rain of blood showering the area, save for Gaara, who causally used his sand to shield himself.

"Desert Graveyard," Gaara said, feeling cheated at that man's apparent acceptance of death. Then, he remembered the other two Rain ninja, and he grinned, realizing that he had two more chances to feel the satisfaction he had been denied.

He saw the terror, the horror, etched in their faces as they suddenly realized he was staring at them. They tried to placate him, but Gaara was not to be soothed like Kankuro. Within minutes, he had guided his sand up both, entrapping them tightly. Both arms held before him, he listened to their screams and shrieks of pain in something he could only assume was pleasure.

"Bye Bye," Temari said, her voice falsely cheery.

As he clenched both of his hands, suddenly both ninja, in a cornucopia of noise and blood, died painfully, giving him a taste of the satisfaction he sought. Still, as he relaxed his arms, he felt incomplete. None of them had truly fought back. Struggled and only to have him crush their hope. They had been pitiful, and he detested their blood mixing with his sand.

"Let's head for the tow-"

"Shut up," Gaara whispered, the voice of his mother demanding more blood and telling him there was one nearby that could be enough. That could give him the long sought for sensations, the feeling of his existence being worth something.

"Let's stop..." Kankuro said placating "After all, Temari wants to be a Chūnin..."

Gaara shifted his gaze from the black-garbed puppeteer to the girl, who, according to others, was pretty, and then looked in the direction that his sand was demanding of him.

"You've killed ten or fifteen teams; isn't that enough?" Kankuro tried to reason, his tone soothing.

Gaara could sense the fear, the terror barely held in check. The puppet user was aware of how easily Gaara could and would kill him, if it suited him. "Coward,"

"Don't say such cold things," Temari interjected, her tone pleading. Looking at her, he saw her forced smile and the hands in front of her as if trying to stop his attack. "Listen to your sister, okay? Plus, if we pass soon, you'll get to see really strong people... And prove your existence, right? Please?"

Gaara felt his mother raging that a person that could have given his existence meaning had left, and part of him felt like crushing Temari. Instead, he reached out and reformed the cork to his gourd of sand, silently filling it up once more. Finished, he allowed the cork to return to its home and then glared at Temari and Kankuro.

"Fine,"

Gaara decided to kill both of them before he killed his father.

* * *

Anko wondered how she had let herself get talked into this, then remembered it had, of course, been Kakashi who had managed it. Still, in her opinion, it was a stupid assignment and a waste of her skills. After all, there was quite a bit going on at the moment: Unity, the latest Uchiha/Hyūga fight, the military build ups in Stone and Grass, and the oh-so-fun arguments between the Hokage and the Uchiha over Kakashi's eye.

So, yes, as far as Mitarashi Anko was concerned, in comparison with those situations, patrolling the Forest of Death for a member of some mysterious group called Akatsuki was stupid. Of course, such thoughts could be because -despite her talent, skill, intelligence and killer body- she did not have the patience to deal with ghost enemies.

She needed tangible and real threats, Unity, for example, or her _sensei_, even. Something she could make bleed.

Still, it hadn't been a complete waste of time. She had gotten to see Naruto and his team fight, after all. It was obvious, of course, that Naruto was the strongest of the three, but the other two were no slouches, and, most importantly, they functioned very well together.

Even her 'back up,' Jin and Goro, two ANBU Trainees, had been suitably impressed at the display.

Besides that small moment of interest, however, the patrol had been boring as hell. They had yet to see another team after Naruto's, and there had been no contact with the other patrols, which wasn't surprising, really. Anko was almost tempted to think that the Hokage and Kakashi had come up with this just to keep her busy.

It seemed like something they would do.

Coming to a stop, Anko crouched, studying the forest in annoyance.

"Sector three clear," Jin said casually from her right. "Anko-sama, isn't it odd that we haven't made contact with another team?"

"Not really," Anko said without looking away from the forest. "The Forest of Death is a large area; even with five active patrols, contact is almost impossible to accomplish."

"Yes, but I meant the Chūnin examinees," Jin said, assuming a crouching position as well. "Besides Team Nine, we've yet to see another team. I think, even for the size of this forest, that is unusual."

Anko snorted, then glanced at the trainee. "You have a point there, but...I can't find it in myself to care too much. After, all fewer teams means better odds for Naruto and the others."

"Yes, but what if-"

"Hey, what's Hayate-san doing here?" Goro suddenly interrupted, and Anko turned her attention away from Jin and to the still standing trainee. Noticing her attention, Goro nodded slightly at the distant figure of a passing Hayate.

Anko felt the hair on the back of her neck bristle slightly, knowing that there was no reason for that man to be in this forest. More important was the fact that he was not moving like Hayate: he was moving too much like _him_ to be a coincidence. Which meant several things, none of which were good.

"I thought he was on medi-"

"Jin, Goro," Anko said abruptly without looking at either ninja. "Go find Itachi and tell him to get his ass over here quickly. I think we've found our 'Akatsuki'."

"But, Anko-sama, that's Hayate-san..."

"No, it only looks like him," Anko said, standing up once more, eyes following his path. "The easiest way of entering the enemy's stronghold is to do so in a familiar guise."

"Wolf in sheep's clothing," Goro summarized, sounding impressed.

"Exactly," Anko said in annoyance. "So get your asses in gear and get him here. I'll need more than just two recruits in a fight with someone of this level."

"He didn't seem that strong to me," Jin said.

"Then you don't need to be in ANBU," Anko snapped. "He's Sannin level, so GET OUT OF HERE!" That finally seemed enough to send the two scurrying away, allowing Anko to follow 'Hayate'.

"I've waited too long for this...You're not getting away from me..._sensei_."

* * *

Shino could feel them: They were closing in.

He didn't need his family to tell that much;, these three were either not the best of ninja or very confident. Pretending to ignore them for the moment, he turned his head slightly, checking on his teammates. Ino looked a tad worn down from lack of sleep, and Naruto seemed distracted. He knew better though.

Ino was always aware of the small things, and Naruto always seemed ready no matter how distracted he was. Still, it was possible that Ino might not be awake enough to know, so he dropped back, keeping his tone low. "Ino-san. Do you sense them?"

"Huh?" The blond girl blinked, looking at him curiously, and he sighed.

"The enemy. They're preparing to attack."

"O-oh..." Ino managed, but Shino saw the way her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't known, which meant he had probably averted her death by alerting her. Looking at Naruto, he started to say something, when he saw the intense and cold look settling onto the boy's face.

"They're splitting up for a three -point pincer move, two from the side and one from below."

"How do you know that?!" Ino demanded hotly, looking at him.

"The weak always try to kill the strong by dividing their strength," Naruto said seriously, his tone almost a mirror of Anko's.

"A three -point attack would work effectively for them in this situation," Shino said in agreement. "Three different directions means we'll each have to respond independently of each other, which can increase their chances of overpowering us."

"That's what I said," Naruto said, glaring at him.

Shino felt something race up his spine, something he took correctly to be fear. That glare had been nothing but a promise of murder. Suddenly, Shino wondered if, maybe, the real danger in this forest wasn't the other teams, but the obviously unstable boy they were working with.

"Baisuu Kusa Kei!"

With a deft move Shino dodged the incoming attack, noting the half-dozen grass-like whips that seemed to come from everywhere in a crisscrossing fashion. A second later, he dodged a small hail of three-bladed shuriken and created a wall of bugs to block the nin's incoming kick.

Yet, even as the man retreated from the wall, Shino was surprised to hear Ino cry out in pain. Turning quickly, he confirmed that the girl had been caught unaware by what appeared to be a bear trap made of leaves. Ino, however, quickly lashed out with her sword, slicing it in half and countering her enemy's next attack.

Pushing her to the back of his mind, Shino turned back to his own fight and just barely managed to leap back in time to avoid yet another grass-based ninjutsu. Landing, he found himself staring at a large Kusa nin, who seemed to be grinning even though he should have had no basis for it.

"You seem amused by something."

"Heheh, should I tell you?" the boy said, lunging forward with a powerful swing which was turned aside by his bugs grasping the arm and diverting it.

"I would like to know," Shino said as blandly as ever.

"Hehe, okay...After we kill you, we'll have killed a total of five teams. That's one more over the other Kusa teams."

Shino felt his eyes widen at the implication, unable to believe that there were teams intentionally roaming the forest looking for others to kill. Still, he stayed in the present and dodged yet another grass jutsu with a carefully timed Kikai clone. The man backed off for a moment, surprise on his face followed by what looked like amusement.

"So, you're not as pathetic as the other teams, huh? This should be fun."

Shino, in response, held his hands out, allowing a swarm of bugs to come swirling out.

* * *

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Naruto could hear his heartbeat pounding furiously in his ears, could feel the excitement of battle flowing through his body. This was the moment he was coming to love; the oblivion of it all, the way the entire world went away as he fought. It was almost surreal, and he couldn't help but grin like Anko usually did.

Twisting his way out of yet another grass-based attack, he launched his own attack in the form of kunai and shuriken. He was rewarded with the sight of forcing his enemy, the all-too familiar Noga, to flee to a safer location. Still airborne, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin and used it as a spring board, dropping toward his surprised enemy.

Kunai clashed with the scraping of metal, and Noga was driven to his knees, while Naruto flipped forward and landed in a crouch, a kick slamming into the kusa genin's back. Turning, his grin faded as the genin suddenly crumbled to reveal that it had been a Kusa Bunshin.

"Is that all you have?" Noga said from somewhere among the foliage. "Is that the strength that'll make you the disease of Hokage?"

"Oi, you think you're so damn bad, why don't you face me?" Naruto shouted in response, eyes darting all around him in an attempt at locating his enemy.

"Why should I? I'm a true shinobi; we don't fight in the open," Noga echoed back.

"Oi, or maybe you're just a coward," Naruto said, clutching his kunai tighter. "Is that it? Are you afraid of 'the disease'?"

"You expect that to work on me? I am not some simple-minded buffoon," Noga shouted, even as a half-dozen grass-like whips seemed to come from everywhere in a crisscrossing fashion. "Baisuu Kusa Kei!"

Naruto, in response, dodged and weaved his way through the attack, hurling kunai into the foliage where the first grass whip had come from.

"As if that would work," Noga taunted from his hiding place. "Even if I was there, those kunai could be avoided easil-" the proud voice was cut off, however, as the sound of several explosions rent the air and the section he had just attacked was left in ruins.

"Oi, I may not be able to see you, but sooner or later I can blow you up," Naruto taunted back, eyes darting all around, wondering where the hell Noga was, and then he felt it, the danger sense that he had spent so long cultivating under Anko.

It was a moment too late: he'd been caught flatfooted, and a grass whip was suddenly protruding through his chest.

"So dies a 'Hokage'," Noga cackled, finally leaving his hiding spot. "Now I wonder who will-"

"Oi, excuse me..." Naruto suddenly said from behind the gloating boy, followed by a swift kick to the boy's head. "Do you mind? I'm sorta mourning my Bunshin there..."

Tumbling to a stop, Noga blinked in surprise, then looked around just in time to see the 'Naruto' that was impaled poof out of existence. "H-how?! Impossible, that couldn't have been a Kage Bunshin! I had you!"

"Well," Naruto said with a prickish grin as he drew a kunai. "I make a lot of 'em... and, oi, a real shinobi can kawarimi without missing a beat."

"So I see," Noga hissed, climbing to his feet while shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Good," Naruto said, going serious. It was time he showed this little bastard the truth of what it mean to fight a Konoha ninja, a future Hokage. "Now, do you really want to see my strength, Noga?"

"Show me your strength, 'Hokage'," Noga said intently, "and I'll show you it's nothing!"

Naruto wasted no time, charging across the clearing, ready for the attack, willing it to come so that he could perform the Hebi and end this fight. Instead, he was suddenly forced to leap aside and back to avoid a whip that seemed to have formed around Noga's hand. Missing its target, the whip connected with a tree, gouging out several sections of bark.

Watching intently, Naruto followed the recoil of the weapon and then glanced at his opponent, noting that the whip seemed to be protruding directly from his hand.

"My personal attack," Noga said with a grin. "The Irakei. The thorn's are twice as sharp as kunai and coated with enough poison to kill you before you can blink."

"Really? Let's test that," Naruto said in response and darted forward once more, ducking the first slash at his head, then the return slash at his legs with a jump and a flip, his hand grabbed the vine between the thorns and yanked. The end result was Noga being pulled forward, surprise etched on his face, and Naruto slamming his other fist into the boy's face with a crunch.

His reeling away pulled the whip taut, and Naruto was quick to produce a kunai to slice it in half. Discarding the portion he had been holding, Naruto darted forward once more, ducking yet another slash at his head using Hebi Style, and then, to Noga's mounting confusion, reappeared with a knee slamming into the Kusa genin's stomach.

Noga stumbled away once more, one hand clutching his stomach while the other clutched his face. Naruto, however, was already on the move and, grabbing the boy's arm, yanked him around to slam into a tree.

"Ooof!" Noga managed, before an elbow slammed into his jaw and the arm that had been using the whip was yanked to the side painfully.

"So, a Hokage is nothing," Naruto hissed, the cloth on the handle of the kunai twisting in his grip as he pressed the cold tip of the kunai to the boy's throat. "A pathetic disease? You told me something once. I think it was 'Conquer fear, they should fear you'..."

"A Kage..." Noga hissed, glaring at him, "is nothing..."

"So are you," Naruto whispered and then, without warning, yanked the kunai away from the boy's throat and jabbed it into the outstretched wrist. Then, despite Noga's scream, he followed the motion with a twisting slash so that he yanked his kunai free in a spray of blood.

The resulting scream was oddly satisfying, as was Noga collapsing to the ground, desperately trying to stop the blood flow from his now ruined hand.

Naruto, however, turned his gaze away from the boy, suddenly remembering that he was not the only one out here fighting. It took him a moment to find Shino's fight, and he was annoyed to find that they were doing little more than jumping around. Hell, had they even exchanged attacks? Snorting in annoyance, Naruto turned away from the boy and attempted to locate Ino.

He did so just in time to find Ino stumbling back from her opponent, the ninja-to sticking almost comically from the kusa nin's chest. So enthralled by what he saw, Naruto barely noticed when Noga shouted for a retreat, barely noticed as the ninja Shino had been fighting scurried away or the way Shino just stared after them.

As he watched the ninja finally topple over, one part of him couldn't help but wonder if that was what his own first kill had looked like. The other wondered if it had been Ino's first kill... and, when he saw her collapse and heard her muttering that it was an accident, he had his answer.

Suddenly, he felt a leaden weight settle into his stomach, then, against his will, he started towards her.

* * *

"It was an accident," Ino said softly, staring at the ninja-to plunged into the prone body. She stumbled back and collapsed with a thump, eyes never leaving the figure. Her mind was replaying the moment, his wild slash at her throat, her smooth duck and lunge. The sound, the surprise that had coursed through her, the way the blood had coiled down the blade.

Dimly, she was aware of someone approaching from behind and then crouching next to her. Turning, she found herself staring into Naruto's blue eyes. He was studying her and then he looked at what she had done. Some part of Ino wanted to make him not see it, to hide it.

Instead, she watched him, the way he studied her kill in silence, his face a mask. Finally, he turned back to her, his blue eyes revealing shadows of emotions that she could just barely fathom. It was a gaze that, under normal circumstances, would make her blush and stammer. For now, it gave her something to latch onto, something to hold the urge to break down completely and lose it at bay.

"You did great," Naruto said softly, his tone seemingly more intimate than she had imagined possible.

"I-I killed him," Ino said, her eyes burning from the tears she was trying so hard to stop.

"Yeah," Naruto said while nodding curtly in agreement. "Still, better him than you, neh?"

"I-I shouldn't have..." Ino mumbled, choking back a sob.

Naruto was silent for a long moment and then sighed, looking back at the body. "We kill. They kill. It's one of the first things we learn."

Ino froze for a moment staring at the blade and then up at him, at they way he carried himself. The way he spoke. The look on his face, in those eyes. Suddenly Ino knew: Naruto had already been through this. Had already stained his hands with blood. "I-it can't be that easy."

"It is," Naruto said, looking back at her, trying so hard to give her a reassuring look. "Ninja, even Hokages, have to kill. It's our art...We just have to live with it." Getting up, he approached the body and pulled her sword free before coming back to offer it to her.

"I-I can't..." Ino said, looking away, ashamed and revolted.

"Oi, Ino...You have to. You're a ninja now," Naruto said squatting to put the sword on the ground in front of her. When she turned to stare at him, he gave her a small, proud smile. "Next time that bastard says you're not, you can prove it."

Ino nodded slightly, allowing the slight against Sasuke to pass, and reaching out with a trembling hand to grasp the handle of the ninja-to. Climbing to her feet alongside Naruto, she felt lost, and the sword no longer felt right to her. Was this what it was like to take a life? To feel as if nothing in the world was right anymore?

Turning, Ino studied the blond next to her, seeing for a moment the man he would become. "Naruto-kun," she paused at her own voice, surprised at how calm and steady it sounded. When he turned to look at her in surprise, she continued with her question. "What was it like? Your first kill?"

Ino saw the way his face tightened; it was almost invisible, really, the way his shoulders tensed and his eyes dimmed slightly. Ino regretted asking now. She should have known better, but he was the only one present that had taken a life and she needed to know. Needed to know that all of the horror, the fear and pride she felt was normal.

"It was beautiful, Ino-chan," Naruto finally said, his tone rough and strained as he turned away from her. "It was beautiful."

Ino watched in silence as he walked away and then looked down at the still bloodied sword in her hand. Almost mechanically, she fumbled for the cleaning cloth Hayate had given her and began to wipe the blade clean, struggling desperately to see through her tears.

"I'm a ninja now," Ino managed in a steady voice, despite her tears, and then, with a flourish, she sheathed the weapon and joined Naruto.

* * *

The forest was quiet, for the most part at least. Here and there were cicadas and other insects starting their twilight songs, joined by the sound of the whistling wind and the rustling of swaying branches. The cloud-spotted sky was actually sort of interesting: it held a note of light and dark blues which signaled the beginning of night and, on the horizon of the trees to the west, it was a mixture of peach and white.

Combined, it gave the forest a sort of gloomy and forlorn feeling, which would serve to unnerve even most ninja, to be honest. After all, there was a reason why it was called the 'Forest of Death' and not the 'Forest of Warm, Fuzzy Thoughts', namely because it was where the Kyūbi had first assaulted Konoha. It still carried an unwavering taint of 'The Beast', much like how a few places that were connected with the Yondaime still carried his trace.

"Damn, it's getting dark," Anko muttered to herself, pouring on an extra burst of speed. The last thing she wanted to do was try and fight _him_ in the dark; snakes operated best in the dark, after all. Still, she would have given almost anything to know why he was even in this area or part of that 'Akatsuki' group, but that was not really important.

What was important was the fact that he had obviously killed Hayate. After all, Orochimaru was not one to leave someone around to ruin his fun.

Anko noticed the trap at the last second, grasping a jutting branch and swinging around and up to avoid the explosive note that had been directly in her path. Glaring down at it with narrowed eyes, she snorted in annoyance. "Who the hell does he think I am? As if I'd fall for that..."

Then, like it was yesterday, she felt the familiar tingle of his chakra and moved, just as some unknown jutsu decimated the branch she had just been on. The explosion, of course, set off the poorly hidden, yet surprisingly powerful, explosive note, which forced Anko's body to jerk out of control and slam into another branch stomach first.

It almost crippled her; if the blood in her mouth was any indication, she had at least had some internal trauma now. Still, she was Mitarashi Anko, Jōnin of Konoha, former ANBU! She was not going to stop after this. Clutching at the tree, she swung her legs forward and then backward into a flip, so that she landed upright in a flutter of her overcoat.

To complete her look of 'awesomely cool,' she licked the blood on her chin away and grinned at the impassive-looking 'Hayate' on a branch across from her. "You really know how to get a girl's interest, _Sensei_."

"Kukuku," 'Hayate' managed with a very snake like smile. "I knew there was someone following me. My, this really is becoming a reunion, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Anko agreed gruffly, loosing her playful manner. "So, why are you here? To try and assassinate the Hokage, or something pedophilic?"

"Hmm. None of the former, since I have no interest in old men," Hayate said, an unusually long tongue lolling out to lick at his lips. "Maybe a bit of the latter, you know me and children..."

"...You really are sick," Anko muttered, eyes narrowed.

"Even though we haven't seen each other for a while," Hayate said, reaching up to casually peel away the flesh of his face and reveal purple tattoo's and yellow, snake-like eyes. "You're so cold...My sweet, little viper..."

"Orochimaru," Anko said darkly, wondering, despite herself, how someone who should have been in his fifties could look as if he had not aged since reaching adulthood. "...I am not your viper anymore."

"Oh, Anko," the Sannin said in a mocking fashion. "You'll always be mine..."

Anko opened her mouth to retort when, suddenly, a fiery pain exploded through her mind. Sweat formed on her skin, and she clutched at the cursed seal on her neck. "Guuh!"

Crouching down, Orochimaru grinned pleasantly. "I guess I'll just have to remind you of that...and you know how I like to hear you scream."


	18. Chapter 17: Forest of Death: Oniwaka

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**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 17:  
_-The Forest of Death:  
Oniwaka-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

_Location: Forest of Death; Pre-dawn of the Third Day..._

Naruto grunted rolling over on the sleeping matt, burying his face into the jacket/pillow. His face contorted into a grimace of displeasure as sweat beaded on his forehead, and he rolled back over to stare at the brightening sky. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and the ever-present phantom feeling of anger and fear.

Concentrating on his breathing, he tried to calm down, hoping that he could get some sleep. It seemed hopeless; after all, he'd been up all night tossing and turning. It was like he was being chased by some invisible predator, unable to rest for a minute.

He took three deep breaths and blinked rapidly to try to adjust his eyes to the dim-darkness but couldn't.

Closing his eyes once more, he sighed, preparing to attempt to sleep yet again, only to grimace as phantom pain flittered across his mind. Then, suddenly, he exploded to his feet, clutching at his neck with one hand, mind numbing pain racing through him, and the knowledge that Anko was hurt and in trouble.

He tried to move only to stumble and collapse to his knees, staring sightlessly as a dark liquid dripped from his nose to splatter against the ground.

Blood.

Pain.

...Orochimaru.

Naruto didn't know how, didn't know why, but there was no doubt in his mind that Anko was fighting Orochimaru. That she was loosing, and that he **had **to help her. Struggling to his feet, he darted into the forest, his own anger overriding any pain he felt, any fear. All that mattered was that he help Anko, that the bastard who was hurting her paid.

Without realizing it, his speed doubled and then tripled, leaving behind a wake of broken branches.

* * *

Anko could feel him all around her, even over the pain of her broken ribs and dislocated shoulder. He was toying with her, she knew it; he loved to toy with people. Sick, perverted bastard, he was just getting his jollies before he killed her. Anko could stop running and deprive him of that thrill, but she had to keep buying time until Itachi and his team arrived.

Taking a running jump, she plunged twenty feet, focusing desperately through her pain. Sparing a brief moment, she wondered where the hell Itachi was. After all, her two escorts had been sent off several hours ago. Suddenly, a branch was beneath her, and she landed with a crouch, the jarring impact making her wince and stumble slightly.

Getting back to her feet, she froze, eyes widening in fear and surprise at finding Orochimaru already there. He was casually leaning against the tree, a twisted smile on his face and yellow eyes glinting in the dim light. "How nice of you to join me."

Anko felt a shiver run up her spine whether from fear or anger she didn't know, but it was obvious to her that Orochimaru was even stronger than when he had left. Still, she wouldn't roll over and cower. The days when she did that for him were long gone. "Are you tired already? I think you used to have more stamina..."

"Well now," the Sannin said, pushing off the tree slightly. "There's the viper I remember... Though, I agree, I did used to have more stamina. I think it's my partner, however, that's not stimulating me."

"Excuse me, I'm sorry I'm not a prepubescent brat..." Anko hissed, eyes narrowing before she threw her hand out to launch a hail of deadly kunai at the twisted man, only to be forced into jumping as his tongue whipped toward her.

Dodging that, she managed to fire off the kunai an instant before the tongue flicked around and grasped her wrist, yanking her off her feet and slamming her into the branch. Stunned, Anko shook her head, looking up at the so-far unfazed Orochimaru. Recovering, she twisted her free hand, concentrating before thrusting her hand out.

A second later, amid hissing and rustling clothes, snakes came hurtling from her sleeve and slammed fangs-first into the startled-looking man. Anko couldn't help but smirk as she yanked him off his feet and then slung him around to slam into the tree. "Sorry, _Sensei_, but I'm not _that _easy anymore..."

"You'll always be eas-" Orochimaru started to retort, only to widen his eyes as Anko slammed his hand into the tree with hers while plunging a kunai through both of their hands.

"Heh, I'm going to borrow your hand..." Anko gritted out, reaching out to grasp his other hand before freezing as the figure melted into a black liquid. "A replacement...fuck..."

"My, my. Not that bad, but still a bit pathetic..." Orochimaru said from behind her. "Only just now realizing that was my shadow? Konoha surely has fallen if they have to depend on ninja like you, my cast offs."

Twisting around, Anko stared in surprise at the man, then screamed out in pain as her cursed seal exploded into activity. With a sick ripping sound, the kunai ripped through her hand, as Anko collapsed once more, clutching at the seal on her neck desperately.

"Kukukuku, still loud as ever. I only hope the boy I met earlier isn't the same," Orochimaru taunted as he crouched down. "Hmm, now that I look closer... You seem jealous. Well, I can understand that, I suppose, since your looks have gone down hill."

"...I am... going to... kill you..." Anko hissed, only to freeze as he reached out to stroke her cheek in that hauntingly familiar way of a lover. Anko growled and turned her head, doing the only thing she could at the moment, biting his hand.

"Oh my, are you feeling _that_ frisky?" Orochimaru taunted, reaching out with his free hand to grab her jaw and free his hand. "Just for old times' sake, I'll use my tongue." He licked his lips, his massive and distorted tongue snaking towards her.

A second later, she was sent crashing into another tree, the tongue squeezing her neck before retracting. "Kukuku. So, was it good for you?"

Coughing up blood, head feeling light, Anko pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Her arms trembling, she almost collapsed, but instead she struggled her way back to her feet. Panting heavily, she looked up at him, giving him a bloody grin. "F-foreplay never was your thing..."

* * *

Ino woke, a chill racing through her from the cool morning air. Stretching with a silent yawn, the Kunoichi slapped her hand around to grab the sheath of her sword and then sat up. Rubbing at her eyes tiredly, Ino muttered to herself as her mind slowly sped back up from sleep.

When it had, a heavy weight seemed to settle into her chest, the memory of yesterday's kill still fresh. It had been bad enough yesterday that she hadn't been able to concentrate at all, forcing them to camp early. If it hadn't been for that, they probably could have reached the Central Tower last night.

Every night in the forest was another night that a team could take their spot, which meant that if they failed she would be to blame.

Guilt welling up inside her, Ino groaned, covering her eyes, unable to help the urge to cry. She was too young for this pressure, and especially to deal with having taken a life. Then, dimly, she thought about the fact that Naruto was the same age as her and he was dealing with it.

How?

Frowning, she blinked and looked at his sleeping mat, wondering if she could ask him, only to find it empty.

Ino blinked, then slowly climbed to her feet and approached, wondering what was going on. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom? Or was out hunting? Ino shook her head, knowing better. He would have left a Kage Bunshin like last time, which didn't leave too many options, really.

Ino felt her heart starting to hammer against her ribs, an unnamed fear welling up inside her. If he had been attacked and killed... Eyes darting around nervously, her mind began to play one gruesome scene after another until she began marching around the clearing, turning this way and that, looking for some sign of what had happened to the blond.

"NAA-RUU-TOO!!â€ﾝ Ino cried out suddenly, cupping her hands to her mouth. There was a slight echo, and then, after it faded, nothing. Taking a deeper breath, she shouted once more, and, when that provided no answer, she attempted it over and over.

"Ino-san," Shino said, sitting up from his sleeping mat. "It may not be wise to be shouting in such a fashio-"

"Naruto-kun's missing!" Ino snapped, rounding on the boy with enough hostility to make him flinch. "All his stuff is here, but he's just...gone!"

"Ino-san, it is possible that he is just out hunting or using the bathroom,." Shino offered calmly, climbing to his feet so that they were at eye level.

Ino sighed heavily, folding her arms under her breasts, as she frowned. "Do you really think that he'd just go off on his own?" Ino asked. "Like, he left one of those Kage Bunshin's of his yesterday when he went off."

"True," Shino allowed, hesitance in his voice. "However, I doubt anything too serious occurred to him."

"But it's possible!" Ino snapped.

"He is the number-one genin."

"The number-one _Konoha_ genin," Ino corrected in aggravation. "Another village's number one could have ambushed him or, or..." Ino paled, reaching up to cup her mouth.

"Ino-san, please get a hold of your emotions," Shino said in what passed as annoyance for him. "This emotional attachment you've formed with Naruto-san-"

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked, fixing her gaze on the boy.

"You've grown emotionally attached to Naruto," Shino explained tiredly. "Due to the fact that you experienced a semi-traumatic event yesterday, namely the taking of a life. The attachment and your refusal to let the event go is impairing your judgment."

"First off," Ino growled, closing the gap between them, "excuse me for not being a robot. And, second off, it's called being a teammate to be 'emotionally attached' to each other."

"Naruto-"

"Is our teammate!" Ino snapped, jabbing Shino in the chest with her finger. "He may have a few problems, but at least he really cares about us! So, we are going to go look for him, we WILL find him, and if you don't help, then may the Amatsu-kami help you."

"Someone should wait for him-â€ﾝ Shino started to say, only to pause at Ino's fixed glare. Sighing, he held an arm out, allowing several bugs to escape into the air in different directions. After a moment, he nodded and gestured to the right. "I'll take point. They say Naruto-san went this way around dawn."

* * *

Ducking a feeble slash at his face, Orochimaru just barely bit back his annoyance. This fight had dragged on longer than he intended for a brief distraction; after all, he was on a schedule, and the leader of the Akatsuki was rather annoying about such things. Leaning back from another slash, he lashed out, one hand grabbing her arm while the other grasped her throat in a vise-like grip.

"I'm sorry to say this, but we have to stop. I'm running behind," Orochimaru said, locking eyes with hers. It would all be over now, and he could continue on his way and meet up with the intended target.

So focused was he on his former student and his meeting for the day, he barely noticed the feeling of 'lances' of chakra slamming into him. His mind supplied the name of the technique almost instantly -Kanashibari no Jutsu- a split second before his eyes caught the movement of something orange hurtling at him.

Needless to say, Orochimaru was impressed.

The impact from the blow wrenched his arm out of its socket, allowing Anko to collapse to the ground in a heap.

Orochimaru, however, was busy thinking about the one responsible for that attack, namely the orange-clad ninja who was crouching slightly, with familiarly-wild blond hair and odd whisker marks on his face. An Inuzuka? No, they had darker hair and never went anywhere without a dog.

But he was wearing a Konoha forehead protector...Hmm, curious.

More important, however, was the fact that the Kanashibari was already fading. Obviously, this mysterious child had very little practice in applying it. Still, it had been enough to get one good shot in, and the Sannin prepared to complement the blond, only to be caught short as the boy shifted his weight and charged at him with surprising speed.

Orochimaru was not a Sannin, nor an S-ranked criminal, for nothing, and he neatly dodged the incoming attack. In that moment, however, he found himself staring into the eyes of a killer, which piqued his interest. Then, the boy rounded on the ball of his foot, shifted his weight, and came within a hair's breadth of hitting him in the chest with a kunai.

Leaping away from the boy, the older ninja paused. The way the boy had shifted his weight was far too familiar to be coincidence.

"Kukukuku. You are a spirited one," Orochimaru said, eyes narrowing as he felt he boy's intent growing. "Do you have a name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blond spat, crouching slightly. "I'm going to kill you..."

"Oh?" the Sannin asked conversationally, eyes widening in mock surprise. "Could I ask why, exactly, you want to do that?"

"Because," Naruto said his hands shooting forward to hurl a barrage of kunai at him, "you hurt neechan!"

Orochimaru thought about retorting, but decided instead to study how the blond had thrown the weapons. With that, the killer look, and the way he moved, there was now very little doubt in his mind that this Naruto had been trained in the Hebi style, unrefined though it seemed.

It was obvious that Anko had been playing sensei, which meant they were connected with the Kinbaku as that was the only reason for this boy to show up from nowhere.

With a quick Shunshin out of the line of attack, he grinned, deciding to share one of his favorite attacks with the boy: Shikumi no Jutsu. He was feeling sentimental, after all, and this Naruto was, in a way, his grandchild. It took very little effort to launch; as always, it was so easy to capture people in his killer intent.

He was so busy gloating about this, Orochimaru the S-class criminal, made a very foolish mistake.

Yes, the Shikumi no Jutsu had, until this point in time, worked for the most part flawlessly. However, this was the first time he had ever tried it on a Genin who had accepted his eventual death so thoroughly that he simply ignored the jutsu and continued charging full speed at him, a wordless scream of rage echoing in the air as he jumped and came down with a kunai aimed at the Sannin's face.

Orochimaru, due to sheer experience and reflexes, realized his mistake and, despite his shock, managed to lift his arms in an x-block, which resulted in the force of the blow sending the infamous traitor skidding backwards slightly, his arm now pierced by a blade.

Eyes wide, Orochimaru looked at the blond across from him in something akin to horror.

No Genin had ever shrugged the Shikumi off so completely, let alone actually managed to hurt him. Not in all of his fifty years... Part of Orochimaru, the part that had kept him alive for so long, told him that he needed to kill this child now before he became an even bigger threat.

The other part, the part that had made him feared and led him to create so many forbidden jutsu, said that should leave him alive to see how he evolved.

Orochimaru was so lost in his thoughts and musings that he nearly missed the blond charging at him yet again. Narrowing his yellow eyes, Orochimaru watched the boy as what little grace that had been present earlier was tossed out the window. It seemed that he would have to forget about his schedule; this child was proving far more interesting than he had first expected.

The incoming attack proved silly, and he struck out at the boy, expecting it to be a Kage Bunshin because that would be an obvious choice for this child's apparent skill level. He was wrong, as the Naruto he hit became a log, and he grinned slightly, amused that a child could move so quickly as to replace himself against him.

A second later, he heard the familiar whistling of kunai and turned to see a whole storm of them sailing at him, each fluttering a tag behind them, thrown by at least twenty clones from each direction. Jumping and weaving, he danced away from the exploding blades, looking around in curiosity.

He was not surprised that the was being herded away from Anko, but he was surprised when he suddenly sensed more kunai from behind him. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow at the sheer number of clones and kunai hurtling at him.

"Unexpected," Orochimaru admitted before jumping onto the branch of a tree to avoid the massive explosion that rocked the ground.

A second later, he spotted what had to be the real Naruto moving around in the trees above him and extended his arm to grasp the boy and yank him down. He nearly sensed the trap too late and just barely had time to release the Naruto he was holding before it exploded.

"Here I come you bastard!" one of the Naruto's shouted, and the entire horde came rushing toward him from below, the sides, and the tree tops. It seemed he was utterly surrounded and defeated. Orochimaru, however, smirked and oh-so casually merged with the tree he was in, allowing it to absorb the damage for him.

When the attacks finally tapered off, Orochimaru emerged partially from the tree to keep them in one area. Then, with a Shunshin, he was behind them and expelling air and chakra, vaporizing the tree and all of those clones with a massive ball of flames.

"Kukukuku, Anko had a rather vicious student," Orochimaru said in delight. It had been interesting to see a Genin already at that level.

"Kuiton: Senpu no Koku Yoh!" a voice from behind, distinctly Naruto, suddenly shouted, and Orochimaru turned in time to see a large whirlwind of leaves heading toward him. Orochimaru felt surprise course through him, knowing that technique, and knowing that it was rather dangerous since the edges of those leaves would be razor sharp.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Orochimaru shouted, spitting forth multiple balls of fire at the whirlwind and blond. The blond dodged to the left, kicking off a tree for an extra burst of speed and came hurtling toward him. Which was exactly what Orochimaru wanted since in that instant of the blond being air-borne he formed the tora seal and took a breath. "Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Naruto's face showed surprise, then determination, as he created his own tora seal. "Fūton: Daitoppa!"

The resulting clash between the two forces of wind forced Orochimaru to cover his face and slide backward, even as trees bent and some even snapped in half. Debris and dust was kicked into the air, and above it all was the screaming rush of howling wind. As it died, the snake Sannin relaxed his guard, highly impressed at the result of that clash.

But, where he had weathered the attack unscathed, Naruto was sprawled against a tree trunk, dazed and battered. Which meant it was time to end this; he had wasted too much time and effort on this already. Thrusting his hand forward, he grinned maliciously. "Sen'eitajashu!"

A second later, a dozen or snakes shot forward, twisting through the air to wrap around and bite into the blond's flesh.

"Uach!" Naruto screamed in surprise and pain.

Orochimaru, however, yanked his arm around, pulling the boy into the air before slamming into one of the few remaining trees. The scream and blood that elicited was repeated as Orochimaru moved his arm around him, hitting everything in sight until, at last, the boy's body went limp. Releasing the blond so that he landed on the ground with a dull thump, the Sannin chuckled.

Turning to continue on his way, he paused, seeing Anko using a tree for support, blood leaking from her various wounds and, most importantly, glaring at him in impotent hatred. "Kukuku, what's with those hateful eyes?" When she didn't answer, he just grinned wider, amused at this.

Then his amusement died as he felt a large amount of wicked chakra building behind him. Seeing the look of horror on Anko's face only made him more nervous. Turning despite his better judgment, he spotted the source of the chakra, which was actually quite obvious, since tendrils of chakra were twisting and coiling in the air as it wrapped around the blond.

Naruto, chakra boiling, pushed himself to his hands and knees and then, with a growl, lifted his head to stare at Orochimaru with crimson eyes and elongated irises. The whisker marks on his cheeks were darkening and widening. Even his various wounds healed at an alarming rate.

"This..." Orochimaru said in amazement an instant before the blond shot towards him with inhuman speed. Orochimaru just barely caught his arm in time to keep the claws from sinking all the way into his chest.

"**I'm...going...to kill...you...**" Naruto hissed and then, without warning, lashed out with his other hand, flaying the Sannin's cheek an instant before Orochimaru sent him hurtling away. Clutching at his cheek and chest, applying what healing jutsu he could, Orochimaru suddenly felt an icy certainty race through him, and it had only one word.

Jinchūriki.

* * *

Anko wished she could look away, wished that she could turn off the Kinbaku no Jutsu, but she couldn't. What was coming across the Kinbaku was too powerful to force it into silence, and watching the fight in front of her was too much like art not to watch.

Naruto tore his way through a series of Tsuchi Bunshin, clawed his way though a Doton: Retsudotenshō, and scattered a Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu with a chakra infused scream. Nothing Orochimaru threw at the blond seemed to work; it was almost like Naruto was an unstoppable juggernaut.

Part of her hoped and prayed that Naruto could kill Orochimaru;, she wanted that desperately. Another part of her just hoped that the anger, hate, pain and dark fury would stop coming across the link between them. The vast majority of her, however, hated herself for not being able to do anything to help Naruto.

Her body had been pushed to the breaking point when the blond had arrived. The pain was too much for her even to push through. Indeed, it had taken her the majority of the fight between Orochimaru and Naruto just to get her body to stand. As it was, if she forced herself into this fight, in this condition, she would get herself, and possibly Naruto, killed.

So, all she could do at the moment was watch.

There was a clash. Orochimaru had been to slow, and now he was bleeding. Another clash, now it was Naruto who was bleeding for the moment, then another and another, a rapid exchange of blows. Anko almost didn't see it, but she did, and she tried to move, but her legs gave out, and it was to late.

Suddenly, Naruto was being held aloft, his upper body bound tightly by an elongated arm and a tongue that was wrapped around his throat and holding his jacket up. The look on Orochimaru's face told her just how painful and how much of a struggle it was to hold the boy in that position.

Naruto was kicking and struggling and, inch by inch, he was forcing his way free, the odd design on his stomach looking as if it was burning its way through his skin. Orochimaru flashed his free hand through a series of complicated seals before the tips began to glow.

"Gogyō Ō Fūin!" Orochimaru shouted, slamming his glowing fingers into Naruto's stomach. There was a flash of light, and the chakra flickered and then died, but Naruto continued to struggle. Orochimaru seemed annoyed by that development and formed another seal before smacking his palm against the boy's forehead. "Shunmin Fuin!"

Anko watched in silence as the blond's head lolled slightly, as consciousness was forced into a state of sleep. Naruto was at the man's mercy, they were all alone... And Orochimaru wasn't letting the blond go. Panic and fear welled up inside her, and she didn't realize what she was doing until she was within an arm's reach of the two.

A second later, Orochimaru's hand smashed into her cheek with enough force to send her skidding along the ground before crashing against a tree. Looking up, hurting in countless ways, she stretched her hand out feebly toward Naruto. This didn't go unnoticed by Orochimaru, who glanced at her and then at the blond he was holding aloft, before chuckling darkly.

"You should thank me, Anko-chan," The Sannin said, casually taking one of the kunai from Naruto's weapon's pouch and pressing it against the unconscious Naruto's throat. "Not everyone gets to experience death twice..."

Anko tried to think of something, anything, to stop the man, when he suddenly dropped Naruto like a hot potato and leaped into the trees. A moment later, three ANBU came hurtling into the clearing, one following Orochimaru, and the other two stopping.

"Anko-sama," the one wearing the bird mask said in surprise. "We've been looking for you all over the place. You should have waited for backup, it was very irresponsib-"

Forcing her way into a sitting position, she glared at the figure speaking, while his partner knelt and began healing her. "Right...If you guys weren't so damn slow, a GENIN wouldn't have had to try and fight that bastard!"

"I'm impressed he managed to live," Bird Mask said, kneeling over him, his own hands glowing blue. "Huh, he's already healing?"

"Well, yeah," Anko muttered, her breathing easier now that Bear Mask had finished working on her lungs and ribs. "I mean, what with him having a healing BLOODLINE and all! Sweet kami, what kind of idiots are they letting into the ANBU nowadays?"

"He's new," Bear Mask said with a chuckle. "Itachi-sama doesn't like him much either, but he is pretty good. More importantly, what exactly happened he-"

"Naruto-kun!?" a new voice shouted as Ino came hurtling into the clearing, followed by a reluctant-looking male companion.

"Oh great, it's the princess and the bugger," Anko muttered, pushing herself to her feet despite her body's protests.

"Huh?" Ino managed, looking around in surprise. "Anko-sensei? Wha-what happened to Naruto-kun?"

"I don't have time for this," Anko muttered, while trying desperately to think of a story that could convince both the two Genin and the ANBU, _and_ keep that evil power she had witnessed secret. "Alright, this is the short version. I was on patrol with a couple of idiots, we spotted an S-ranked criminal. I went after him while I sent the idiots to get backup. My little skirmish with the criminal brought us near your camp, and Naruto, who was apparently out hunting, decided to try and help after I got hurt."

"Well, that was stupid of him," Bird Mask said blandly, finishing up the healing of the blond. "A genin versus an S-ranked criminal is suicide."

"Sure," Anko agreed, noting the anger flashing in Ino's eyes as she glared at the ANBU. "That's why Naruto managed to hold him off while I recovered, right? That's why Orochimaru unleashed such a terrible chakra against a Genin and not me, right?"

"She has a point," Bear Mask said, sounding amused. "Besides, this _is_ Uzumaki Naruto. I think he could do it with surprise...But, eventually, experience and skill would win out."

"Which is when you guys arrived," Anko said, glaring at them. "I still want to know why it took you AN ENTIRE DAY!"

"Because the recruits you sent weren't very clear on your location," Bear Mask explained. "We had to comb the whole forest until we felt the mass of chakra being unleashed over here."

"B-but Anko-sensei," Ino said, sounding slightly worried as she looked at Naruto. "Wh-what happened to him? Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Anko said, popping her neck and wincing. Reaching up to rub it, she sighed, thankful that she still had enough pain going on in her body to block out the burning of the curse seal. "Orochimaru just used a forced-sleep seal on him. He should be up and about in a few hours...Sore, drained, but alive and able to finish the exam."

"Actually, he should probably-" Bird Mask started to say, before Anko cut him off.

"Go back to the camp with his teammates, wake up, and proceed to the tower. This has nothing to do with him," Anko narrowed her eyes, her killing intent flooding his sense's. "Or do I have to cut your tongue out and feed it to the giant ligers in this place?"

"Right," Bird Mask said weakly, handing Ino a pack of medicine. "Here, use this, should help him recover... I'm going on patrol..." That said, he rushed off into the trees.

"B-but, which way is the Tower?" Ino asked, blinking as she and Shino lugged Naruto up.

"Uh," Anko blinked, then glanced at Bear Mask, who coughed and discreetly pointed in the proper direction. "Oh yeah, that way! So, you head that way and make sure to look out for the man-eating fly traps, giant centipedes, and the poison gas. I'm pretty sure the giant ligers, snow sand, the ROUSes, and the bursts of fire are in the other direction."

"I think so, too," Bear Mask said before tossing the genin a pouch. "Just in case you need some more medical supplies...Or a compass."

"Uhh...Thanks?" Ino managed, blinking. "What's a ROUS?"

"Rats Of Unusual Size," Bear Mask answered blandly. "They're about the size of a meduim-sized dog." Then nodding, he glanced at Anko and took off after his partner.

The older woman stood there staring at the three and then looked into the forest. "When he wakes up... tell him...No, never mind." That said, she jumped into the trees, knowing that she would speak with Naruto after all of this was over.

More important, however, was the silent promise she made to herself.

Orochimaru would pay dearly for hurting Naruto. If it cost her life, he would pay.

* * *

"Looks like you had some trouble, Orochimaru-sama."

Landing adroitly, or at least as adroitly as a man in Orochimaru's condition could, he grinned, taking his black and red cloak from the young man. "Kukuku, there were a few spirited ones, Kabuto-san."

"You always say that," a new voice said from the shadows of the trees. "He isn't going to be happy. We are behind schedule."

"Sasori-san, it couldn't be helped," Orochimaru said as Kabuto began healing him, glancing at the squat figure that emerged from the trees draped in its own cloak and bamboo hat.

"Hmm, it seems you suffered some serious damage this time," Kabuto said, his voice mildly interested.

"You need to be more careful Orochimaru. After all, you are not immortal yet."

"Not all of us can have as handy a talent as you," Orochimaru said in response as Kabuto shifted to his cheek, healing it within an instant. "But I am touched at your concern, Sasori-san."

"Ninjutsu is an art," Sasori said blandly, his tail swaying slightly. "Art is wonderful in any form, and it must be preserved. You are the perfect choice for that."

"Yes, of course." Orochimaru said, shifting his attention to the nearly-finished medic. "Kabuto-san, what do you know about n Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Not much. I have had to rely on what I've over heard," the medic admitted, finishing his treatment before producing a deck of nin cards. Flicking one out, he applied his chakra and frowned slightly. "He just became a Genin this year, been assigned as an apprentice to Mitarashi Anko, then as a member of Team Ten. This is interesting: He's managed two B-ranked missions and one A-ranked mission. All completed successfully."

"Kukuku, I'm not surprised," Orochimaru said, picking up his own bamboo hat from a tree branch.

"Do you have something I should add?" Kabuto asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"No," Orochimaru said, a pleasant smile on his face. "He's just a Genin. Interesting, but nothing worth keeping up on."

"So, did you make contact before you were distracted?" Sasori asked impatiently, eyes darting to the trees from which Orochimaru had just come.

"We'll have our answer in a month," Orochimaru responded with a delighted chuckle. "Right after the ChÅ«nin Exams."

"What about the Ichibi Jinchūriki?" Kabuto asked, placing his nin-cards back into a pouch.

"He was just as Yuura-san said: short-tempered and dangerous. I don't think there are actually many teams left in this exam that he hasn't killed," Orochimaru said, lowering his bamboo hat to shade his eyes. "I almost feel sorry for whoever has to capture him."

"Zetsu-san said that there was a person we should visit in Rock," Sasori said after a protracted pause, before setting off at a slow pace.

"Hmm, Kabuto-kun, can you keep an eye on someone for me?" Orochimaru said, turning to the younger ninja.

"Of course Orochimaru-sama,"

"There's a Uchiha here, you'll know which one. Keep an eye on him and let me know how he develops," Orochimaru explained before lowering his voice. "Keep an eye on Naruto-kun as well." That said he turned and followed after the impatient seeming Sasori.

"What are you hiding?" Sasori asked after a moment.

"Kukuku, what makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

"Because you have a habit of hiding things."

"So do you," Orochimaru responded lightly. "Which is why we work so well together. Don't you agree, Sasori-san?"

"...For the moment, Orochimaru-san."

"I'm so glad we understand each other."

* * *

Yamanaka Ino, for all of her attitude and the annoyance she felt for Naruto, was worried. According to Anko, Naruto had fought and held off an S-ranked criminal -which was honestly impressive- but that he had been hurt. Yet, ever since he had woken up, he had rejected any sort of help, instead preferring to soldier on through whatever pain he felt.

Why do boys try so hard? Ino wondered silently, knowing that if it had been her she would have taken any help she could get. Especially after fighting such an insanely powerful enemy. "Naruto-kun, maybe we should take a break?"

"No time," Naruto said firmly, glancing at her. "I promise I'm tougher than I look Ino-chan,"

Ino nodded, relenting, and he turned away.

Bitting her lip to keep quiet, Ino watched as one of his hands absently strayed to his stomach. It was one of her moments of uncanny insight that let her to understand his actions: he was acting strong for them. Thinking back to the last time they were on a mission, she realized this was how he always acted when hurt.

He had been poisoned, hurt... And he had stood up, shoved it all behind a mask of strength. Why? So that they could lean on him, could survive.

"Oi, Shino how much further?" Naruto suddenly asked, his voice happy and light. "I really wanna hurry up and have some Ichiraku Ramen!"

"We will arrive shortly, just as soon as we clear these trees," Shino answered without turning, tilting his head slightly. "Team Seven appears to be approaching as well,"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, then snorted. "Who'll get there first?"

"...We'll arrive at the same time," Shino explained, finally turning to glance back at them. "It appears that this will be a tie."

"No way I'm tying with that prick," Naruto grumbled. "Come on, we can out ru-"

"No," Ino said firmly cutting the other blond off. Noticing his surprise, she fixed him with her most intimidating glare. "You are hurt, it doesn't matter if we tie. You staying healthy is more important."

Naruto blinked, staring at her for a moment before he grinned slightly. "Aha, but... Come on, we can do it easy. Besides, I told you I was fine! Not hurt at all really, just stiff."

Ino opened her mouth to retort, to explain just how hurt he was and would be if he didn't listen to her, only to have him dart off ahead. Speeding up, she followed, joining Shino in the pursuit of their team mate. Naruto, for his part, seemed to be having a great old time, preforming acrobatics and laughing as he went.

"I can't believe he's doing that," Ino muttered, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "He just got done fighting an S-ranked criminal, and now he's jumping around like an insane frog!"

"Maybe it is as he says," Shino said. "After all, he does seem to recover more quickly than most people."

"No," Ino said shaking her head. "He's hiding it, but I know he's hurt. He did the same thing on our last mission. He's hiding whatever's left over from that fight, so we won't get distracted."

"You may have a point," Shino said seconds before they reached the edge of the trees, and the tower came into view. "However, it is a pointless concern now."

Ino nodded, and, zeroing in on a now jacketless Naruto, darted toward him. The orange -clad idiot looked up, of course, a smile plastered on his face. "Oi, 'bout time you guys got here."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Ino snapped, and huffed, producing the medical pouch that she had been given. "Honestly, why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"But I'm fin-"

"IF YOU SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME, I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU SENSELESS WITH MY SWORD!" Ino shouted.

Naruto blinked, then cleared his throat, nodding toward the other group. "Uhh... You do know that Sasuke is hurt, right? And that Sakura-chan is all over him?"

Ino didn't even glance, focusing, instead, on him, looking for wounds that he was trying to hide. "And? I don't care how much you say otherwise, you have to be hurt."

Naruto blinked, then stared at her for a moment before reaching up to scratch his head. "But... Sasuke..."

"Naruto, you're more important," Ino said briskly, not paying attention to what she was saying. Senseing surprise from him, she stopped her search for wounds and looked at him curiously. What was with that look? He looked as if someone had just knocked the air out of him. "What?"

"N-nothing," Naruto managed weakly and then, flushing -which was strange to see- he coughed. "Uhmm... My side sorta hurts..."

"I knew it!" Ino shouted, but she couldn't help but wonder why he kept looking at her like she had just offered him free miso ramen for the rest of his life.

"We should enter the tower now," Shino said, crouching next to them. "Team Seven has already entered..."

Ino grimaced, her fingers leaving the side Naruto had exposed for her. If they failed, it would be her fault. Well, not really, it'd be-

"Oi, let's go," Naruto said, hopping to his feet before helping Ino up. "If we fail, then we fail, but at least we got to kick some ass." Having said his piece, he put his hands behind his head and turned, heading for one of the doors to the tower, whistling.

Ino blinked, surprised at the sudden shift in attitude. For that last few days, Naruto had been frightening in his intensity, yet now he was back to how he was when he had first joined the team. Glancing at Shino, as if seeking his opinion, she was startled to find him looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing," Shino said and then, nodding, motioned for her to lead the way to the door where the insane boy was waiting impatiently.

Entering the hall together, Team Nine paused, then blinked, looking around. It was a massive hall, with two railed upper levels running the entire length. Most impressive of all were the two massive hands set into what appeared to be a modified ram hand seal, which towered behind the array of sensei and the Hokage himself.

Ino wobbled at the knowledge of what she was now seeing; kami, so many important people! Recovering quickly, she hurried to join Naruto and Shino as they found a place among the other genin present. Looking around nervously, she didn't know whether to feel relieved or terrified at seeing just the twelve genin.

Shifting her attention away from them, she looked forward once more to stare at the gathered ninja, or, more specifically, to stare at the masked Jōnin who was causally standing slightly in front of the Hokage with his arms crossed.

"First off, congratulations on passing... And, I'm happy to see that none of you met with the ROUSes," the masked ninja finally said. "...Or the tribe of naked nymphomaniac Kunoichi," he added, his eye curving up in amusement.

Ino blinked, then slapped her forehead, while most of the males coughed or made odd noises at that announcement. Ino was, at least, relieved to see that the Hokage looked less than amused, which was proven when he cleared his throat and the masked man laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Ahha, well, anyway, congratulations. The Hokage will now explain the third exam, so listen closely, okay?" Stepping aside, the man carefully slipped a red book out of his pocket and began to blush.

Ino rolled her eyes and focused instead on the dignified man dressed in white and red. He stared at them in silence, as if appraising them, blowing the occasional smoke ring into the air. Ino began to chew a fingernail, worried that he was going to fail them for being the last to enter or something of the like.

Instead, he smiled, removing his pipe to speak. "I must say, I'm impressed. The twelve of you, out of this year's entire exam, have made it this far. Normally, we have, at most, nine examinees remaining, but this year we have so many talented Shinobi." Nodding, the old man's smile faded, his tone growing serious. "Now, I must explain the true purpose of this exam. Make no mistake, this is a test for those who will become Chūnin...But, it is also something else."

"Oi, what the hell are you talking about?" Naruto shouted in irritation.

"Don't interrupt," the Hokage said, fixing the blond with an intimidating glare before continuing his speech. "This exam is a substitute for open war between the Shinobi villages. Our nations are tied through peace and non-aggression treaties and, thus, we Shinobi can not openly fight like generation's past. Therefore, this test evolved."

"What does that mean?" a girl with brown hair done up in buns asked.

"Each of you from now on, will be fighting as representatives of your villages. In one month, there will be Daimyo and influential businessmen from different nations here to observe this final exam. If the strength of a Village is shown, they gain more clients and 'defeat' their enemies by stealing business. If a Village is shown to be weak, then they 'lose'."

"Yeah!? Well, why do we have to risk our lives in battle!" Kiba shouted angrily.

"The strength of a country is based on the strength of its Hidden Village, and the strength of a Hidden Village is based on its ninja," the Hokage explained seriously. "And, a Shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battles."

"I don't care what it is... Just hurry up and tell us what this 'life-risking' battle entails," a frighteningly plain looking, red haired boy said.

"It entails just that," the Hokage said, unimpressed with the child. "You will fight with your lives and your countries' prestige on the line. Take the month between now and the finals to train, rest, or however you wish to prepare. After that month is up, you will be brought back to the village and to the stadiuim for the final exam."

"...So, that's it?!" Naruto said in amazement. "No way!"

"Yes, unless any of you care to ask a question, that's it."

"Oi, what about these scrolls with our names on them?" Kiba asked, holding his up.

"Ahh, yes... Place those in the box being passed around. After that, you're free to go."

Ino blinked and began looking frantically for her paper, fearful that she might have lost it. Finding it, she breathed a sigh of relief and dropped it into the box along with Shino and Naruto. Breathing a sigh of relief at finally having this stage done, she turned to say something to Naruto, only to find him already rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Hehe, I'm going to get Anko to so totally-"

"She is our sensei," Shino said calmly, walking away from the two. "She will train us all equally."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the boy's back, then sighed, putting his hands behind his head. "Ahah, well... Ichiraku ramen, here I come!"

Ino shook her head, running her fingers through her formerly lustrous hair. Ugh, it was oily and tangled. She probably stank, too. Correction: she knew she did. After all, it wasn't like she could have risked a bath during the second exam. Right, first thing when she got home was a shower and then a long, warm bubble bath!

"Oi, Ino..."

Blinking, Ino came out of her thoughts to see her whiskered team mate staring at her oddly. "What?"

"Are you hungry?" Naruto asked, smiling at her. "Oi, 'cause I am, and I realized that you hardly ever eat, and this exam really cut back on how much food we had anyway, so, if you want, you can come with me and get some food!"

Ino blinked, then chuckled, walking to his side. "Sure... But I'm just having a salad. I have to watch my figure, after all. Then, I really gotta wash my hair..."

"You know, uhh...Don't hit me or anything," Naruto said, glancing at her curiously, "but, I've been wondering how you ever decided that three feet of hair was a good idea?"

"The same way you decided that ORANGE was a good color," Ino retorted, performing a dramatic hair flip. "And I'll have you know that guys find long hair very attractive!"

"Oi, but I like short hair," Naruto said, a mischievous grin appearing on his face. "And, besides, guys also like tits, but I don't see you working on THAT department yet."

Ino froze in surprise, then flushed brightly. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

* * *

**An:**

_Oniwaka:_ Devil Child


	19. Chapter 18: Advanced Training

**Naruto: **Altered History  
Chapter 18:  
_-Advanced Training-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

A lot of things had changed for Naruto since the Academy graduation. He'd become stronger. He'd learned what it took to be a ninja, and he'd grown close to his new sensei and somewhat closer to his team mates. Hell, not even twenty-four hours ago, he had finally been told by a girl that he was more important that Sasuke!

So, yes, much of Naruto's life had changed. And yet, one thing remained the same: Naruto was one of the few shinobi who was actually a deep sleeper. That was how he slept through the alarm when it had started going off three hours earlier than he was used to.

Then again, Naruto -with Anko's help- had set his body on a schedule, and, three hours after his alarm had gone off, he woke up almost instantly. It took him a few minutes to reorient himself and another minute or so to notice the angle of the dull light coming through his window. He scowled, rolled over, looking at his clock in annoyance, before getting up.

Selecting the kunai he kept on hand, he threw them at the familiar targets in his room, still missing all of them. As part of his routine, he padded into the bathroom for his shower and to briefly study the Konoha scar on his forearm. Finished, he dressed in his kami-blessed Orange and sought out breakfast.

Two... er...Four servings of ramen and milk later, he was walking out of his apartment and heading into the nearly-empty streets. He had planned on getting some training in before the meeting Anko had ordered him to. Judging by the sky and the people around him, he might still be able to do that.

It would have to be something simple. Maybe just a little sparring with Kage Bunshin while water walking. The best place for that was the hot springs a block over. Setting off at a trot, he idly thought about eating with Ino yesterday.

By the time they had made it back to Konoha, it had been evening. Dinner had been unusual to say the least: it had been so strange to have someone his own age, let alone a girl, sitting next to him. It had made him self-conscious, too.

It was probably the first time he had made sure to keep from spilling anything on himself. The strangest part, however, had been the way Ayame and that old man had smiled at them. Shaking it off, while deciding that old people were just weird, he focused instead on sneaking into the hot springs.

He had not so long ago, when he had been creating his Sexy no Jutsu, been caught and banned. So if he was caught, well, he didn't want to think about it. A few quick tricks of the trade to distract and he slipped past the hired guard. Grinning, Naruto prepared for his sparring session when, well, teenage instincts kicked in.

He was thirteen, after all and it was pointless to deny that Naruto, like most teenagers, was more than slightly interested in the opposite sex. Now, of course, he would deny that outside of what he had seen between couples on the streets, he wasn't entirely sure what to do with a girl...But he was interested.

Applying his now-beloved camouflage technique, he slinked through the brightening bath house area, intent on the sounds of women talking and more than a few splashes. Almost as if he were drawn to it, he approached the side of the building where he remembered the peep hole being. A moment later, he was peeking at the _very _interesting sight of naked women.

It was probably the first time he had ever felt actual appreciation for the female form. Still, it wasn't long before guilt set in and with one -er, two- last peeks, he moved away from the peep hole and began his training. A few minutes later, he was absorbed in his sparring session, or as close to it as possible.

He was distracted by rather perverted sounds coming from behind him, but he only had a few minutes to spare... Still, it was getting annoying as hell. Turning in frustration, he marched back to dry land, ready to demand the pervert stop, when he blinked, seeing a white-haired old man dressed in the most outlandish costume he had ever seen.

That was beyond perverted or even a prank, that was a crime and wrong! "Oi, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Be quiet!" the man said without turning, "I let you have your chance to look...This is for my art!"

"What the hell?! You're just some perverted old man!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger in accusation. "If you were my age it'd be one thing, but you're... old! Peeking's a crime!"

"It's how I get inspiration!" the old man said, turning completely as he flashed his hands through a series of seals before slamming them into the ground an instant before a giant toad appeared from nowhere "Now, stay outta my way, punk!"

Naruto blinked in surprise as he was lifted off his feet as the toad's tongue slammed into his chest and sent him crashing into the hot water behind him. Sputtering and struggling his way back to the surface, Naruto found himself glaring up at the amused face of the white -haired pervert. Apparently satisfied, the man banished the toad and turned, heading for the wall and the peep hole.

Now, if Uzumaki Naruto was one thing besides the next Hokage, it was clever and a master prankster.

A moment later he had created a Kage Bunshin, transformed it with the Sexy no Jutsu, then had it bump into the side of the bath house and shriek the words "Eeek! PERVERT!". This of course, drew a ton of attention, and the doors in neighborhing bath houses slammed open.

The old man, of course, panicked and turned as if to flee the scene of the crime, when Naruto caught him with one of his patented prank jutsu: Akai Kutsu no Jutsu, which basically applied a third-person Kawmirai to the old man's sandales, exchanging them with a pair of red heels two sizes too small.

This, in turn, threw Jiraiya off balance, and Naruto, with a grin and quick 'Sexy no Jutsu: Anko Variation', departed unaccosted. After all, who in their right mind would try to talke to Anko? Chuckling at his ingenuity over beating that idiot, though the giant toad was a neat trick, he allowed his Anko appearance to crumble so that he was once more Naruto.

Thankfully, the streets were still pretty empty, and nobody really paid much attention to him, which was a good thing in his opinion. After all, the 'Sexy no Jjutsu: Variation' was not something he wanted to be public knowledge. It was bad enough that Anko had learned the Sexy no Jutsu, but she had helped him develop the 'Sexy no Jutsu: Variation' technique, so that was okay.

Still, the fewer people who knew about it, the better. He almost shivered to think of what someone like Kiba would do with the ability.

Putting aside his thoughts on the technique, he slipped into the semi-dark building of Leaf Central and felt a shiver race up his back. This place felt haunted so early in the mornrning, but, still, a note from Anko was not something he could ignore. Especially on his first day of active training for that final exam, though he did wonder why Ino and Shino weren't here waiting.

Walking past the empty desks and rooms, he gulped, unnerved slightly, and then entered the stairwell that he knew would take him to the Hokage's office. He tried once more to think about what she could want, especially if it involved the Hokage. The last time he had been in a meeting with them, had been told about his bloodline... What would it be this time?

Well, he would find out soon enough, he supposed.

The hallway seemed to take forever, mostly because he swore he felt like there were a dozen eyes watching him. Still, he kept the uneasy feeling from showing up and, instead, boisterously talked about becoming Hokage. Who knew, maybe the old man was stepping down already for him.

However, when he said that out loud, he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Glaring at nothing in particular, he opened the door to the Hokage's office with a loud bang, finding not only the Hokage and Anko, but also Kakashi. "Oi, d'you want to see me, psycho?"

Anko grinned slightly at the name. "I left ya a note, didn't I, ya little prick?"

Closing the door with a loud thump, the orange-clad ninja tossed a more civil "Good morning" to an amused-looking Hokage and a suspicious-looking Kakashi. Shifting his attention back to the woman, he stretched, popping his back. "So?"

"I have a mission," Anko said with a slight scowl. "I won't be able to train you."

"But, but... I wanted you to train me!" Naruto said. "Plus Ino-chan and Shino need your help, too!"

"I know," Anko said in annoyance. "Kakashi here agreed to take them on while I was gon-"

"That masked pervert?!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the man in question. He couldn't believe how this day was going! First that pervert that had ruined his early-morning training, and now this!

"Ah, Naruto, it was the only way to keep my book...Well, it was either this or go on another date with Anko."

"Coward chose the easy way," Anko remarked flippantly before shaking her head. "Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all of this is because I asked an old friend a huge favor."

"Huh?"

"See, I couldn't let just any idiot teach you," Anko explained, grinning faintly at Kakashi's snort of annoyance. "So, I asked Jiraiya-sama to tutor you while I was on my mission."

"...Jiraiya?" Naruto repeated blankly, the name not clicking for a moment, then suddenly he went rigid. "THE GUY THAT TAUGHT THE YONDAIME?!"

"Yeah," Anko said with some amusement. "He owes me, and besides, he's the only one I trust to not ruin everything we've worked on."

"WHOOA!" Naruto shouted, glomping Anko before doing a silly little dance, unable to believe that he would be getting the Yondaime's teacher. This would mean that, between Anko and Jiraiya, he could be Hokage by next week! Oh, yeah, he was so going to kick Sasuke's and everyone's asses!

"Sorry I'm late," a new, though familiar, voice said. "I ran into this little prick, and he..."

Naruto froze and turned, finding himself staring at the old man from the hot springs. Both stared and then simultaneously pointed at each other, voices echoing in unison:

"PERVERT!"

Both blinked, stared at each other, then rounded on the others in the room.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!" they shouted in unison.

Anko raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. "Naruto, meet Jiraiya-sama. Jiraiya-sama, meet Naruto. He's all yours for a month."

"YOU BITCH!" both shouted once more, before fleeing the room amid a hail of sharp, pointy objects from Anko.

* * *

"Oi, so why'd we come all the way out here?" Naruto asked, glaring at the large, outlandish man. "You want to spar or something?"

"Nah," Jiraiya said, waving a hand dismissively. "Knowing Anko, I have a pretty good idea what you're capable of." Seeing the boy's inquisitive look, Jiraiya sighed. "I'm a Sannin, ya runt, there's no need for me to bat you around."

"Hey!"

"Oh, just be quiet," Jiraiya snapped, glaring at him. "Just be happy I don't summon a toad to squish you for ruining my research."

"You were peeking!"

"So were you," Jiraiya countered before waving a hand in dismissal. "Anyway, we came out here to work in peace. Plus there's a waterfall nearby, so...Yeah, we'll be-"

"Do you treat all of your students this way?" Naruto asked angrily.

"First off," Jiraiya said, bashing him on top of the head, before striking an impressive pose. "Don't interupt me when I'm speaking. I'm Mount Myoboku-gama's Holy Master Sennin. Also known as the Toad-Sennin. Remember it!"

"Whatever, Ero-sennin," Naruto muttered, rubbing his head.

Letting that name slide -the Yondaime had called him almost the same thing- the massive man crossed his arms, turning serious. "Second off, you're not my student, you're Anko's. I'm not about to take someone else's student. Think of me as a highly over-qualified substitute teacher."

"Then what are you going to teach me?"

Jiraiya paused, rubbing his chin in thought. To be honest, it had been years since he had taught anybody, but he knew what Anko had told him, so he had rough idea of what to teach. Still, there were other things to cover and explain before he taught the boy anything. Namely, of course, what the Sandaime and that Kakashi were trying to keep hidden.

"Oi, Ero-sennin?"

"Hold your horses, punk," the Sannin said, sitting on an overturned log and motioning for the blond to sit down across from him. "Look, this is more difficult than just teaching , okay? I have a lot of important things I have to pass along. But for me to do that, you'll have to show some patience okay?"

"...Okay," Naruto said, finally turning serious.

"We'll start with the basics," Jiraiya said with a slight nod. "How many Kage Bunshin can you make at one time?"

"I made a thousand one time," Naruto admitted while rubbing his chin. "Normally though, if I really try, I can make fifty or a hundred."

"I see," Jiraiya said, rubbing his own chin in thought slightly impressed with the number.

"You know, Hayate said something about how Kage Bunshn can give me knowledge..."

"Yeah," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "Kage Bunshin was originally developed as a spying move, but it can be used to speed up certain things, which is how the Yondaime got so strong so quickly. But, not everyone can do it. The chakra requirements are outrageous, and the mental strain is unfahthomable..."

"Whoa,"

"Yeah, so, we'll keep it safe and go for a hundred. You _shouldn't_ snap under that strain."

"Oi, will that be enough?"

"...Will a hundred clones every day for thirty days be enough?" Jiraiya repeated almost hollowly. "It's the equivalent of working with three **thousand** clones, which is roughly equal to at least a year of solid training on the same techniques."

"The same techniques?" Naruto blinked. "I thought you'd teach me all sorts of new stuff!"

"I'll teach you a few useful tricks," Jiraiya admitted. "I promise that by the end of the month you'll have everything I teach you as pure instinct, but I wouldn't recommend trying this training trick for another six months. You'll have to give your mind time to recover."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Naruto said, jumping to his feet halfway through the seal for the clones. Jiraiya, in response to this, casually beaned the blond with a rock between the eyes, knocking him on his ass.

"I thought I told you to be patient," Jiraiya grumbled in annoyance. If it hadn't been for Sarutobi and Anko, they couldn't have paid him to handle this runt. "We're not even where I want us to train, I haven't explained how the Kage Bunshin training will work... or anything else I want to say before we even begin training!"

"Well, well... I don't have time for that! I gotta get stronger,! If I don't, then I'll never be Hoka-"

Jiraiya beaned him with another rock, scowling slightly. "First off, runt, it'll be a couple of years before you're anywhere _near_ ready for that job. Second off, patience is a virture for a ninja. Without it, you'll never get anywhere. Third off... Why the hell do you _want_ to be Hokage?"

"Oi, because its my dream!"

"...Okay," Jiraiya said with a snort. "Why is it your dream?"

"Because... To be Hokage is to be the strongest ninja in the village."

"...I'm still not following."

"It just is! If I'm Hokage, I can do things, like help the orphans being abused and whatever."

"You could do that now."

"I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto said fiercely.

Jiraiya groaned, Oh, kami help him. "Look, let's not get into this right now, okay? We have other things to talk about." Seeing the blond's disgruntled glare, he rolled his eyes. "Listen, runt, you can either have a temper tantrum, or you can listen to me and learn a few things."

"...Like what?"

"Wind jutsu, seals, how to move extremely fast..." Jiraiya said, then, noticing the look on the boy's face, braced himself for the coming storm. "First things first, though, what do you know about your family?"

"... Not a lot," Naruto whispered, looking down slightly. "I'm an orphan, ya know. I just know they're not around, and nobody knows anything about them."

"That's not quite true," Jiraiya said carefully, scratching his cheek. "Actually, I suppose I should tell you I'm partly the reason you don't know anything about them. Then again, the other part of it is because of the Yondaime and his decision to completely destroy his name."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, anger smoldering in his eyes. But he was holding his tongue; that was a surprising, but good sign.

"Well, don't you think it's strange that the Yondaime is never referred to by his real name? I mean, even the Sandaime is still called Satruobi by some people." Jiraiya shrugged, holding a finger up. "You see, the Yondaime came from a very abusive and altogether unpleasant family, and he didn't want anything to do with them. He ran away from home at an early age and, long story short, he eventually ended up as an orphan in Konoha, but he never answered to a name."

"How the hell does that affect me?" Naruto demanded, the anger in his voice and those eyes growing.

"I'm getting there," Jiraiya said, thankful that Naruto was giving him a chance to explain. "So, eventually, he ended up on my team of Genin and then, through years of hard work and sacrifice, finally gained a name: The Yondaime. He was about twenty when that happened. Anyway, shortly after this, Uzumaki Ksuhina a kunoichi from another village that he had met earlier turned up in Konoha pregnant with his son."

"Me?" Naruto asked faintly, surprise etched on his face.

"You." Jiraiya confirmed, surprised at how calm the boy seemed. Shrugging it off, he continued the story, pleased to see the boy's rapt attention. "They hid her pregnacy for fear of you life, she was from a forgien village after all. Albit, a foriegn village that had been wiped off the face of the planet by Kaze no Kuni and a secert weapon."

"A secert weapon?"

"Yes. Now, to make another long story short, she died giving birth the same day that the Kyūbi attacked Konoha."

"... Then the Yondaime," Nauruto managed weakly, before glaring at Jiraiya. "So, why didn't anyone ever tell me?"

"Well, now, that's where I come in," Jiraiya said, scratching his head. "See, the Yondaime was ashamed of his family and he loved your mother. So after I came back -I was off trying to keep tabs on Orochimaru at the time- I did what I felt was right by him."

"What does that mean?" Naruto growled.

"I destroyed all the records related to you, except for your family name." Jiraiya said with a shrug. "Your mom and dad told me they wanted to use her name, partly because he wanted his birth family to get nothing from his legacey, partly because she was the last Uzumaki and they were a good Clan that deserved a chance at survival. But mostly because he wanted you to have a childhood free from the overwhelming expectations and pressures of being his son. He wanted you to grow and develop as your own person."

Naruto blinked, then scowled. He did not look happy, he looked downright murderous, actually. Jiraiya felt guilty, he had after all stolen Naruto's family from him. But he had related the story -certain details omitted for the moment- and he accepted whatever blame Naruto felt like throwing at him.

"So, what was his name?" Naruto finally asked, his tone still holding a note of anger. "I can't keep referring to him as the Yondaime in my head..."

"Namikaze Minato," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "Or, at least, that's what he told me once. I just started calling him Arashi cause he hated his name."

"Can we start training now?" Naruto asked, his emotions that had been so apparent before now shoved behind a mask.

That was surprising to see, a genin masking such strong emotions. It was impressive and slightly worrying, it hinted at an unstable personality. Still, it wasn't his business since he wasn't Naruto's real sensei but he would talk with Anko about it. Nodding, Jiraiya climbed to his feet. "Tomorrow. Today we'll go over how the Kage Bunshin training will work while we walk to the training area I have in mind."

"Right!" Naruto said, hopping to his feet to fall into step with him.

"Of course, after we talk about all that, there will be girls at this waterfall," Jiraiya said, rubbing his hands together while grinning lecherously, absently noting a flash of interest in Naruto's face.

"Pervert."Naruto muttered.

"No," Jiraiya said with a small shake of his head. "You're a pervert... I'm a SUPER-PERVERT!"

* * *

_Day One:_

WHAM!

"Owwwww!" Naruto yelped, jerking at the sharp and painful contact with his ribs. Sitting upright, he turned his dark glare on the attacker who stood over him.

"Up and at 'em, bastard," Jiraiya said, glaring at him. "Only prostitutes get to train on their backs..."

Grumbling, Naruto watched the Sannin return to the fire and, sighed flopping back onto his sleeping mat. As if his sleep hadn't been disturbed enough, his normal dreams -usually involving ramen- had been replaced by dreams of his dad and blood. Needless to say, Naruto had tossed and turned all night and was now quite grumpy.

"Are you getting up, or do I need to shove a kunai up yer ass?"

"I'm up, I'm up..." Naruto grumbled, finally getting out of bed and stumbling over to the man who was causally leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. Jiraiya, the legendary teacher of the Yondaime, the biggest pervert Naruto had ever met!

This was also the man responsible for Naruto growing up without knowing his family, and a very large part of Naruto resented him.

Still, the old man had admitted his role in the affair and had told him about his family. That helped keep Naruto from attacking, as did the symbol that Anko had carved into his arm. He wouldn't let them win, though who 'them' were he didn't know, and Jiraiya was a way of winning.

As for how Naruto felt about being related to the Yondaime? He felt pride, anger, sadness, loathing... all rolled up into one tight ball that was settled in the bottom of his stomach. He just couldn't decide how he should feel about the Hokage. All of the feelings he had harbored toward an unnamed family were now directed at Minato.

"Well, let's get started," the white haired man said, interrupting his thoughts. "Knock out those hundred clones and let's get this show on the road."

"Yeah," Naruto muttered and, closing his eyes, formed the familiar seal. His chakra was sluggish like it had been yesterday: he could feel the pressure building in his temples and then it was gone. Opening his eyes, he looked around and then back at the man, who snorted.

"Can't count? That's only fifty; where's the rest?"

"Oi, it's harder than I remember!" Naruto snapped and then repeated the process, producing the missing numbers. Satisfied, he crossed his arms and glared at the man. "There!"

Jiraiya frowned and created his four clones and then popped his neck, addressing the Narutos. "Aright, so this is how it works... You'll divide into four groups, twenty-five to a group. Then, you'll follow these dashing men." At this, the Sannin gestured at his clones. "After that, you practice whatever they teach you. So, get!"

A few minutes later, the two originals were left alone in the clearing, and Naruto was grumbling about having to prepare the fire. "Oi, why do I have to do this?"

"Because I'm teaching you," Jiraiya said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"...Well, what the hell are we going to be working on?"

"Nothin' for now," Jiraiya said, sitting down across from the boy as the fire finally came to life. "We'll just talk for a bit about seals along with internal and external chakra."

"...but why can't-"

"Because Kage Bunshin training is never to be used to learn Sealing or Internal and External Chakra," Jiraiya said with a frown. "Seals are a way of altering reality, they break the rules of the universe. Mislearning _anything_ involving them can have very nasty results."

"Oi, but why shouldn't the Kage Bunshin be used? I mean, wouldn't it speed things up? I could learn more about seals faster!"

"It's because of how the information comes to you through the Kage Bunshin," Jiraiya explained, preparing breakfast. "Let's say there's five steps to a seal, so you create, say, three clones. Now, then, all three learn what you need to know and then pop out of existence. You have their knowledge, their experience, true, but it'll be jumbled, and you won't be able to make heads nor tales out of it."

"Oh," Naruto said with a slight scowl, getting the point. He could just picture getting a seal that could alter reality wrong. Hell, fouling up a jutsu that you knew how to do was painful enough... That was just asking for trouble. "Okay, so what's internal and external chakra?"

"Good question," Jiraiya said, shifting slightly in his seat. "Chakra, you do know what chakra is, right?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto said indignantly., He did know, just not the exact details. "It's what we use in jutsu and stuff."

"Chakra," Jiraiya sighed, "is the combination of physical energy and spiritual energy."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Jiraiya rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Now, Chakra can be divided, by me at least, since I'm the only one who ever noticed, into either Internal Chakra or External Chakra. Care to guess why I call them that?"

"Err... 'Cause one is external and one is internal?" Naruto managed, scratching the back of his head, not really understanding what all of this meant.

"Right. One affects things outside of the body, and the other affects things inside the body. One example of External Chakra is ninjutsu, and another is water walking. Genjutsu, on the other hand, uses Internal Chakra, and, of course, another example of Internal Chakra is channeling it into your legs for a boost in speed or strength."

"I see," Naruto said, nodding slightly. He actually did get the concept. Somehow, though, he got the feeling that the whole explanation was being dumbed-down. Still, at least he understood what he was being told. Still didn't mean he understood why they were talking about this stuff.

"Now, the only reason I really bring Internal and External Chakra up is because of Seals," Jiraiya said, as if reading Naruto's mind. "Seals actually convert Internal and External Chakra, depending on the purpose of the seal. This is called Chakra Conversion Ability, because of the ability of turning Internal into Externeal and External into Internal."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, loosing all understanding. "What the hell are you saying?!"

"Idiot!" Jiraiya muttered and then, rubbing his chin, sighed. "I suppose the best explanation would be this: You breath air, right? So, the air would be called 'External', your breathing it would be 'Conversion,' and once it's inside you it becomes 'Internal'."

"Oh!"

"Yeah." Jiraiya nodded in annoyance. "Now, then, if you breathe the air out... Well, of course, the entire process works in reverse. Do you get it?"

Naruto blinked, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He thought he got it, or at least the gist of it all... which was the important thing in his opinion. Still, he pondered it for a few more minutes, then lifted a finger, proclaiming his answer proudly. "Nope!"

"WHAT?!"

"Well, I don't really get it," Naruto said with a shrug. "Oi, but I get the general idea!"

"This is going to be a long month," Jiraiya said, slapping his forehead.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the ANBU training area..._

Kakashi sighed, crouching down on the branch as he watched Ino go through a few basic warm ups. Mentally however, he wondered if she was truly suited for the life of a ninja. Sighing he shook his head and started speaking. "The one problem I've noticed all kenjutsu users have is that they loose the element of surrpise."

"I sorta get that," Ino admitted as she looked up at him warily. "I mean, with my sword strapped to my back its sorta obvious what I'll be attacking with right?"

"Exactly," Kakashi said cheerfully, his eye curving up happily. "So, since I'm not that good with a sword I'll be helping you hone your senses. That way, even without an element of surprise you can be ready for anything."

"Ok," Ino said slowly, her thumb rubbing the handle of the ninja-to she was holding. "So, uhm, how exactly are you going to-"

A minute later she was desprately trying to deflect the pebbles Kakashi was hurling at her. A moment later the masked ninja finished, and shook his head. The girls sense's were subpar, even for an average ninja. Still she wasn't completely horrible so maybe there was some hope for her.

"WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU DOING?!" Ino screeched up at him indingnately, her skin dotted with red marks.

"Training you," Kakashi admitted as he pulled a small red book from his vests pocket. "but if you don't want to, just go home."

"Just throw the damn rocks!" Ino shouted, clutching her ninja-to tightly in front of her. Seconds later she was swinging the blade wildly. A moment later she twisted to far, over extended and Kakashi took advantage bouncing a rock off her ass, then when she turned back he bounced one off her shoulder and another on her hand making her drop the blade.

"Don't rely on you eyes Ino-chan," Kakashi said brightly, despite his disappointment at her dismial display.

"Then how the hell am I suppose to stop the rocks!" Ino snapped glaring at him as she retrieved her weapon angirly.

"Here." Kakashi said, tossing a kunai with a strip of cloth wrapped around it at her feet. "Put that on and then reached out with you sixth sense, the one all ninja have, and use it to guide your weapon."

Ino grumbled bending over to retrieve the cloth, then jerked forward with a yelp as another rock bounced off her butt. "YOU BASTARD!"

"You know, maybe you should just give this up. We have a whole month before the final exam, I could probably teach you a few basic ninjutsu...or maybe you could just go home." Kakashi said, bouncing the rocks in his hand absently while reading his book. He waited another minute then looked at her calcuatling. "Of course, I don't think Naruto or Sasuke would notice you if you just gave up."

"WHAT?!" Ino shouted, a dangerous aura beginging to radiate off her. Kakashi just offered his single eye smile in return, which prompted Ino to angirly tie the cloth around her eyes and hold her ninja-to out in front of her in a vice grip. "Bring it you masked freak."

"Remember, don't just swing, try to stretch out with your senses," Kakashi said, hurling a pebble at her while she began to swing wildly. Stirkig her shoulder he sighed. "Don't react until you feel the attack, otherwise you leave yourself wide open."

Ino cursed, much to Kakashi's amusement, but readied herself. Kakashi paused, leaving her to the tension that would be coursing through her with each passing minute. Her blade move a fraction of an inch at the sound of a rustling leave, but Kakashi waited. Minutes stretched out before him and then finally, he threw a pebble aiming for her forehead protector.

Ino, muscles taut, moved the ninja-to striking the rock with a ring. The rock shot through the air and imbeded itself ia nearby tree. Ino ripped her blindfold off, and started cheering, waving her sword around crazily. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, reconsidering what Hayate had told them before he had died.

Maybe she was a Kenjutsu prodgidey.

"Well, that's not bad Ino-chan," Kakashi said happily, bouncing a few more pebbles as she looked up at him. "So, shall we continue?"

"Yes." Ino said, glaring at him before putting the blindfold back on.

Feeling the chill race up his spine from the killing intent she was raditating he chuckled. It was nice to see she was getting serious about this training, but she really didn't need to use killer intent during a lesson. Shaking his head he began pelting her with pebbles, marking it off to being exposed to Anko.

* * *

_Day Five:_

"Remember, the secret of sealing is the simplicity of it," Jiraiya said holding, a finger up, temples throbbing from the migraine he was developing. "Beginners tend to spell out exactly what they want a seal to do, which detracts from the simplicity. This also requires more internal chakra, which can prove very dangerous."

"Then how would you do this?!" Naruto snapped irritably, looking up from the complex squiggly marks in the dirt he had been writing for the last two hours.

"It's not about how I would do it," Jiraiya explained in annoyance, poking at the early-morning camp fire. "It's your seal, your chakra, so it's up to you to figure out how to get what you want from the seal."

Hearing the prick grumble, even as his stick returned to etching the practice seal in the dirt, the Sannin shook his head. They were five days into the training, and, while the Kage Bunshin trick was working -Jiraiya was almost frightened at how fast Naruto was progressing on that front- sealing was another matter. The entire reason Jiraiya had included it was because of Gaara and, of course, because it taught patience something Naruto sorely lacked.

Yet, while most ninja never advanced very far in the art of sealing, they understood that you had to keep things simple. Naruto, however, kept over complicating his seals. Often to the point that, if they were to be activated, the blond would use up all his chakra and Jiraiya just wasn't sure what the hell to do about it,.

He couldn't stop teaching it -after all, a little knowledge was a dangerous thing- but Naruto needed to know the basics for the Gogyo seal he was planning on imparting just in case Gaara went besserk.

"Agh!" Naruto suddenly said, angrily jabbing his stick into the seal he had been working on.

"...Maybe it's time for a break," Jiraiya said, his mind wandering to the girls who would soon be arriaving at the water fall. He couldn't help but grin, blushing slightly, as he pictured those nubile bodies glistening in the sunlight from the oh so cold water.

"Oi, are you daydreaming about peeping again?!" Naruto said in clear irritation.

Jerking out of his thoughts, Jiraiya frowned in annoyance. "You have no sense of beauty, the female form is beautiful, and it must be observed! It's why I started my book, to share such special knowledge with the masses!"

"It's just a naughty book." Naruto said in dismissal.

"...You've never had a girlfriend, have you?" Jiraiya said in annoyance, not meaning to actually insult the blond.

"Just be quiet!" Naruto snapped angrily, grabbing a stick and sketching another beginner seal in the dirt once more.

Jiraiya paused, then looked over that boy. Kami, he should have known better than to say that, but...it did make him worry about something else. "At least tell me you've had a crush on a girl."

"Yeah, I have," Naruto admitted, pausing in his seal practice.

"Thank the kami," Jiraiya managed. He had been worried for a second that the blond had been cheated of even that experience. If so, the Sannin would have never been able to forgive himself for it. "So, what was her name?"

"None of your business," Naruto snapped, not looking up.

"You know, Anko was telling me a bit about that girl on your team, what's her name," Jiraiya said, feigning faulty memory as he fished for information. "Blonde hair, blue eyes..."

"Oi, Ino-chan?" Naruto blinked looking up in surprise.

"Yeah, I think that was her name. So, what's she like?" Jiraiya asked, blinking as the blond got a thoughtful look. Then, he listened as Naruto spent the next half-hour or so talking about what Ino was like. How she could be really bitchy at times and then sorta okay other times.

About how she had this insane fixation on orange being a bad color and that she dieted all the time. How badly she had been affected after her first kill and so weird in the Forest of Death after that. About how she had been the first girl to tell him he was more important than Sasuke and to eat dinner with him. When he finished, Naruto stared at the older man curiously, scratching his nose. "Oi, so what's up with her?"

Jiraiya hid his grin, knowing the beginnings of a crush when he heard one. "Nothing, she's a female, and they're insane... But now, back to that seal."

Grumbling, Naruto returned his attention to the ground.

Oh yeah, Jiraiya thought in amusement as Naruto finally began to get the sealing process, he's got it bad.

* * *

Shino darted left, mirrored by his Kikaichu Bunshin, then skidding to a halt both launched themsleves forward at their common enemy. The masked ninja neatly caught the Bunshin and twisted hurling into Shino, who in a spray of bugs, fell to the ground. Rolling ot his feet, the Aburame held his hands out, willing his bugs to form a Mushi Kabe.

A moment later as Kakashi rebounded from his failed attack, Shino shifted the wall of his Kikai into a half dozen Kikaichu Yari's and sent them crashing after the man. Kakashi of course nimbly dodged each one, then with a rapid movment Shino was unable to follow nailed him with a punch. Rolling with the blow, Shino came to his feet, ready to continue when Kakashi held a hand up to signal a stop.

"You're not bad," Kakashi said after a moment, eye curved up happily. "Much better than Ino, and I think in terms of technique you might even surpass most Uchiha."

"Thank you,"

"But, you'll still never be able to beat me or much of anyone else in anything other than a sparring match." Kakashi said seriously.

"...I fail to see how you can determine that." Shino said, feeling a slight stab of annoyance. After all, he had just proven how good he was in the match against Kakashi. So true, he might not be at the same leve yet, he would be there some day.

"Because you're always thinking, you never react. You predict, then act..." Kakashi sighed shaking his head. "All logic, no emotion or instinct."

"Emotions cloud judgement," Shino countered, repeating what his father had told him repeatedly. It was true to, all he had to do was look at Ino. Her decisions were always clouded by her emotions.

"True, if you rely on only them. But, you have to realize that even the weakest of people if motivated by certian emotions can over come insanely powerful enemies."

"Maybe. For you. But I prefer to keep an even mind." Shino said, shaking his head slightly and turning away. He had to work on his technqiue, it was still taking to long, his family was still a tad sluggish.

"Ino would kick your ass," Kakashi said blandly, and when Shino stopped the masked man shrugged. "Simple matter is, she might not have crisp technique like you, but she has imagination and her desires are driving her."

"That is an _interesting_ opinon," Shino allowed, struggling to keep from snorting at the idocy of that statement. He could defeat Ino any day of the week, though she was his team mate and he resepcted her.

"A good ninja needs to know how to improvise, to let their emotions out to help them. How to use their instincts properly, not to look at everything with nothing but logic." Kakashi said, pulling his red book out and turning away. "However, you do have potential."

"Emotions are not an aide to a ninja," Shino said, his Kikai begining to stream from the sleeves of his jacket.

"Mm, that's anger you feeling." Kakashi said, turning to glance at Shino over his shoulder. "You feel it right? How its trying to drive you? A ninja needs that."

Shino hesitated, reigning himself back in. It appeared that Kakashi might indeed, have a point, but he would need to consider the matter more throughly. Then realizing that the silver haired man had disappeared as he was apt to doing, Shino selected a tree and approached.

There was no time like the present it appeared, and Shino had to decide who was correct, his father or the ANBU Commander.

* * *

_Day Ten: _

"Listen carefully, brat. This Gogyō Fūin is a very special seal. This is a seal that can totally disrupt a person's chakra and knock the enemy unconscious. However, to use it, your chakra has to be larger than your target's at the moment of application."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, his temples throbbing as he tried to understand what the perverted old man was explaining. It was almost like trying to hold water in his hands, it was all so damn complicated. Of course, the mental fatigue from the constant Kage Bunshin training wasn't helping much, either.

"Think about it like this," Jiraiya explained, selecting a rock before gesturing at a tree branch. "This rock is the Gogyō Fūin. That branch there is your target."

"Right."

"Now, then, when I throw this rock, that's me applying chakra," Jiraiya said, almost casually tossing the rock at the branch. There was a sharp crack and then, suddenly, the branch was split in two. "That, of course, is the end result: I severed the connection."

Naruto blinked, then nodded, grasping what the man meant. "Oi, so how do you do this Gogyō Fūin?"

"There are two ways," Jiraiya explained as he stretched. "The first is the proper way, which requires two hands to use. When this version is applied, it is so painful that it not only severes your chakra, but knocks you unconscious for at least a couple of days."

"Oi, what about the other one?"

"It's a slightly weaker, very crude, variation. Basically, it requires a single hand to prepare, which is a useful ability if you only have one hand available. It's not as painful as the proper version, and it only disrupts your chakra but it's still effective."

"Can you show me that one?" Naruto asked, eyes wide at finally learning something useful from this seal training. Well, knowing how to seal fire might be useful but he wasn't sure how. This sounded a lot more up his alley.

"You have to become extremely proficient with seals to perform the single handed one," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "Now, the two handed version, well, you might be able to manage it by the end of the month."

"Really?" Naruto said excitedly, almost rubbing his hands together. "So, I need to create a couple Kage Bunshin and..."

"No," Jiraiya interrupted, shaking his head. "You won't be able to apply it at all; you'll just have to learn if you can do it or not in a fight."

"But why?"

"Well, it's obvious," Jiraiya said in exasperation. "The Gogyō Fūin, the proper version that I'm going to teach you, would dispel the Kage Bunshin, and that pain would slam into your head like a ton of bricks."

"But... That doesn't happen when the others get dispelled!"

"No, but then again, they're not experiencing pain on a level that could turn your insides into jello," Jiraiya said flatly. "You'd feel it. Weakened, of course, but you would feel it, and trust me it's not pleasant."

"Fine," Naruto grumbled in annoyance, accepting that for the moment. After all, if he pissed the man off too much, he'd cut out early and go peeking. Hell, as it was, they only had another hour before Jiraiya did just that. "Oi, so are you going to explain this Gogyō Fūin or what?"

"Keep yer shirt on," Jiraiya said in annoyance as he demonstrated the finger seals. "The seals are simple enough, plus you just concentrate the chakra into the tips of your fingers. After that, it's just a matter of where you apply it. Some places are better than others."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, trying to memorize the finger movements that Jiraiya was showing him.

"You know, where you apply the seal. There's really only three ideal targets for the Gogyō Fūin: the lower, middle and upper hara."

"Hara?" Naruto blinked, scratching the back of his head, a feeling that Iruka had mentioned it once rattling around in his mind.

"A point on the body where your chakra is most concentrated," Jiraiya explained tiredly. "The ideal place to apply the Gogyō Fūin would be on the lower Hara, which is located at the stomach."

"I knew that!" Naruto said defensively, before scratching the back of his head. "So, why there?"

"Sure ya did," the sage said before shaking his head. "As for why the lower hara, it's safer and easier to access. The middle hara is the solar plexus, and applying the Gogyō Fūin there could cause suffocation, while the upper hara, which is the forehead, will cause the brain to die."

"...Oh," Naruto said with a slight scowl.

"Yeah, so unless you have no other option, go for the stomach," Jiraiya said, lifting a finger. "Using this seal is not to be taken lightly."

* * *

_Day Fiffteen:_

"Oi, do I have to use leaves?" Naruto asked suddenly, looking up from the latest seal that he was practicing. Seeing Jiraiya's startled look, Naruto explained. "I mean, with the Shunshin no Jutsu. I've been thinking about it, and it seems like it's sorta pointless to just use leaves or other things."

"You want to modify the Shunshin no Jutsu?" Jiraiya repeated blankly. "Actually, that's pretty easy. You just substitute one element for another. Every village already does it, so it's not impossible. You should know that."

"Oh," Naruto said, scowling in thought.

"So, what element did you have in mind?"

"Well," Naruto said slowly, finishing his latest seal, feeling a moment of pride at finally progressing. "I mean, you've told me how people tend to use leaves or mist or water or something. So, why not wind?"

"Actually, it's not a bad idea. The trick would be to combine a powerful enough wind to cover the Shunshin, especially if you use it against a Hyūga or an Uchiha." Jiriaya said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Creative too."

"So, it can be done?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya nodded. "Just have to practice and figure out how to do it. It's definitely something to ponder, we'll get some clones on it tomorrow."

"Great," Naruto said, turning back to his seal before blinking. "Oi, so, like I was saying, Anko freaked when I handed her Kakashi's book."

"So that's why he twitched when I tried to borrow it to double check something?" Jiraiya asked, chuckling.

* * *

_Day Twenty:_

Jiraiya was using what was left of the dying light to make a few final sketches to his latest book. It was slow going. Inspiration was not very common out here, especially since the girls had mysteriously stopped showing up. Not that his blond companion cared; all that Naruto worried about was eating and training.

That boy had to be the single more boring person ever. Oh sure, Naruto was talented when it came to fighting, but boring as hell otherwise. Sighing, the Sannin focused on his latest line, humming to himself as he kept his hand steady knowing a mistake here would force him to start the book over.

"I got dinner!" Naruto suddenly shouted from behind him.

Jiraiya jerked, sending his book flying and his pen sailing. Battle tested eyes followed the fluttering descent of his precious novel until it came to rest a few inches from the simmering fire. Scrambling forward, the toad sage grasped his book desperately, flicking through the pages, looking for a stray mark.

All the while, Naruto causally began to skin the fish and prepare dinner.

"Oi, oi, so I've been wondering about-"

"YOU IDIOT!" Jiraiya shouted, leaping to his feet and bashing the boy with his free hand. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW CLOSE YOU CAME TO RUINING MY NOVEL!?"

"HEY!" Naruto shouted back, while rubbing his head. "It's just some damn perverted book!"

"YOU... YOU!" Jiraiya fumed and then, glaring angrily, stalked back to his spot on the overturned log and began an earnest search for any stray marks. If anything had happened to this book...It was his only copy, and the publisher would hunt him down if he couldn't deliver the story.

It was already five months overdue, and he didn't have many more excuses to delay the deadline.

"Oi, what's the big deal, anyway?" Naruto asked in annoyance "Once you've seen one naked girl, you've seen 'em all, right?"

"...You," Jiraiya said, pity and annoyance warring inside him. "You just don't get it."

"Whatever," Naruto said in with a shrug.

"Here," Jiraiya said, rummaging through his pack before tossing his last book at the blond, who caught it deftly. "You read that and tell me it doesn't 'inspire' you."

Naruto blinked, then snorted, tossing it over his shoulder. "You want inspiration?" Jumping to his feet, Naruto formed an unfamiliar handseal. "Sexy no Jutsu!" Jiraiya blinked, surprised at the smoke and then was nearly given a heart attack by what he saw. Staring at him with the sexiest pout he had ever seen was a buxom young woman, her blonde hair in pigtails, while the smoke wafted strategically across her body.

"GENUIS!" Jiraiya shouted, leaping to his own feet and giving two thumbs up.

"Tehehe," the naked women giggled, then winked at him. "Sexy no Jutsu: Anko version!" If Jiraiya had been on the verge of a heart attack before, he was now on the edge of brain death, all of his blood rushing south very quickly at the sight of a completely nude Anko.

Stammering, he reached out across the fire to touch the woman, when suddenly, with a small poof, she was gone, and Naruto was once more standing before him. Jiraiya felt his hope and dreams come crashing down around him, and it was all he could do to keep from killing Nartuo.

"Hehehehe," Naruto said, lacing his fingers behind his head, eyes shut in that fox like grin. "So, so? What'd you think of my jutsu? I can use it to become anything... Since Anko said I probably would never get the hang of the Henge. She helped with the variation bit, but the original 'Sexy no Jutsu' is all my idea!"

Jiraiya just stared, unable to form words or logic. There was no other word for what Naruto had done: the blond runt had broken the legendary ninja.

"Hey, are you listening to me?!" Naruto shouted indignantly, forming the seal once again. "Harem no Jutsu!" Jiraiya was promptly launched into the air by the blood that escaped his nose upon seeing so many beautiful naked women.

He lay there twitching for several hours.

* * *

_Day Twenety-five:_

"Oi," Naruto said, looking up from his latest sealing lesson.

"What is it now?" Jiraiya sighed, a vein throbbing in his forehead as he paused once more in his writing. The only way he kept from smearing the blond runt all over the forest was by remembering that they were almost done.

"Well, it's about that Gogyo thingie... Can ya block it?"

Jiraiya bit his tongue, then set his material aside, turning to face the blond. "Oh, blocking it's simple: You just have to not be hit. Simple as that, just like dodging any jutsu."

"Oh," Naruto muttered, turning back to his dirt seal.

"Don't get it wrong, though," Jiraiya continued, crossing his arms. "In sealing, anything that can be done can be undone. Just, usually, you don't have enough time to undo it."

"Huh?"

"Kami, why me..." Jiraiya muttered in annoyance. "Look, with sealing you can do anything, right? If you can seal fire, then you can release fire. Not that you want to undo every sealing you come across, hence why I haven't taught you the Gogyō Fūin or unsealed you myself."

"Wha?" Naruto blinked, scratching his head. "Wait, wait... I'm SEALED!?"

"...Why do you think your chakra's been so screwed up lately?" Jiraiya answered, smirking. "I mean, think about it, you said that first day that it didn't use to take that much effort to make Kage Bunshin."

"Oi, but it's not that hard now," Naruto said, blinking.

"Well, that's 'cause you've gotten better at controlling your chakra," Jiraiya explained blandly. "Right now, your chakra is at a lower ebb than normal, so you have to control it better to achieve the same results as normal. When you're unsealed, you'll be hell of a lot more dangerous."

"Really?!" Naruto said excitedly.

"Yeah, think about-" Jiraiya thought for a moment, then shook his head, unable to come up with a good explanation for the boy. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and picked up his writing materials again. "Just trust me on this, runt. Now, get back to work!"

"Perverted bastard," Naruto muttered, almost sounding fond, even as he turned back to work.

* * *

_Day 29 of training:_

Naruto was having an unusual dream. It involved ramen, but that wasn't the unusual part. That dubious honor belonged to the girl feeding him the ramen. Even that wasn't unusual: he always dreamt about Sakura feeding him ramen. No, the reason the dubious honor belonged to this girl was because he couldn't figure out who in the hell she was.

Her eye color kept changing on him, and her hair, too.

Even her features would shift every so often!

Then, finally, his mind started latching onto a name for this girl...

**WHAM!! **

Naruto jerked awake, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. Pain coursed through his body, and his vision blurred, but he was used to pain and focused through it. Standing over him, arms crossed and looking as pissed off as any oni, was his current teacher, Jiraiya.

"Good, you're awake," the man said blandly, as if he was talking about the weather. "We can finally get this torture over with."

Finally able to breathe, Naruto moved, slowly rolling away from the man and rising into a half-crouch. "Oi, what was that for?"

"I was waking you up," Jiraiya answered without an expression. "Today's the last day of your training, an-"

"Wha?" Naruto managed, his mind still slightly hampered by sleep. Then he felt his eyes go wide in realization. "It's been a month?!" He started counting on his fingers, before a jolt ran through him. "IT HAS!"

"Yeah," Jiraiya agreed in annoyance. "Now, as I saying, with what I have planned for today, you're going to need as much time as possible."

Shoving his surprise down, along with his despair at realizing he had gone a month without ramen, the blond shifted into serious mode. Ero-sennin was talking as if he had something new for them to do, and Naruto was not about to screw up anything. Even though the lessons had been boring -often interrupted with perversion- the blond knew just how strong he had gotten training with the man.

"This is actually going to be pretty simple. We're going to spar," The man smirked and crossed his arms. "Sort of, anyway."

"We are?!" Naruto asked, jumping to his feet, a rush coursing through him at the thought of finally fighting. "WOOO! Get ready to get your ass kicked!"

"I said, 'sort of,'" Jiraiya interrupted with a snort. "You're going to be restricted to what I taught you during this last month, but no Kage Bunshin, anything Anko taught you or anything else more advanced than the Acadmey basics."

"Oi, wait a minute!" Naruto said angrily, realizing just how large a handicap that was putting on him. "Why do I have to-"

"Because I want to gauge how well you've learned what I taught," Jiraiya said. "Plus, I won't be fighting back, just dodging or blocking. I want to test you, not kill you."

"Hey!"

"Hay is for horses," Jiraiya said. "Now, your goal of this 'test' is to hit me, I mean a solid hit, too, by lunch time."

"Test?" Naruto asked, scowling as he thought about the academy, "What happens if I don't hit you?"

"Then I kill you. Then I go into Konoha and kill Anko, Iruka, that Ino girl, the old man at the ramen stand, and everybody else you told me about." Jiraiya said, a deadly intent rolling off him. "I'll kill everyone you hold dear and anyone that tries to stop me."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, to point out that he couldn't do that. But he felt the intent as the man had spoken and he knew, instinctively that this man was serious. That he really _would_ go into Konoha and kill everybody all because Naruto failed to hit him.

"If you have any delusions about this being a bluff, let me say this: I have no real ties left in this village. I don't care about anyone in that village, and I'm a Sannin: I could kill the Hokage if I felt like it. Which means I'd have no problem with a Chūnin, Genin and Jōnin."

Naruto gulped, a chill racing up his back. Suddenly, he felt all this weight settling onto him, making him want to bow from the pressure. Or run screaming. He had so many lives depending on this it wasn't even funny, but he had no choice but to fight.

"So, let's start, shall we?"

No sooner had those words left the man's mouth than Naruto exploded into action with a hasty Kaze no Yaiba -which Jiraiya dodged easily- followed by a Shunshin to where the Sannin had dodged. Naruto thrusted blindly with a kunai when he arrived, but Jiraiya grabbed his wrist and shoved it down while jumping over him.

Tumbling forward from the momentum, Naruto managed a shoulder roll and whipped around, firing off a series of kunai and shuriken. The toad master dodged and jumped easily, and Naruto scrambled back to his feet, only to find the man twirling one of the kunai around a finger casually.

"Not bad,. Not _good_, but not bad," Jiraiya said before tossing the bladed weapon aside. "Well, let's get back to it, shall we?"

Growling, Naruto attacked yet again, using tricks, attacks and combos one after the other. He could only do so much with the rules that the stupid bastard had set down, but he couldn't just give up. He dug deep into his bag of tricks and thought about how best to apply them.

Jiraiya lazily dodged through the latest barrage of jutsu and weapons, almost yawning. "You know, I wonder if Anko will scream. No, I think she'll cry, because I'll tell her you could have stopped me and didn't."

"You won't touch her!" Naruto roared and hurtled head first at the man, only to be leaped over. However, that was exactly what Naruto had wanted. The man landed between two glowing seals, which exploded into a circle of flame that quickly died out.

"You know," Jiraiya commented standing unharmed on the edge of the circle, "I'm impressed. You adapt, you innovate, improvise, all within a few seconds. But, you still haven't hit me."

Naruto charged once more, performing several rapid Shunshin's, trying to confuse the man, then came out of the last one directly into a hebi style attack. Jiraiya clalmly blocked the blow, then jumped away with a slight push, as if he had done nothing more than swat a fly. Naruto, however, collapsed to one knee, surprised at how weak he felt after performing so many rapid shunshins.

"You know, that wasn't bad," Jiraiya said conversationally. "I think if you ever get unsealed, you shouldn't have a problem doing that a couple of times a day. Of course, to get unsealed, you'll have to hit me. Maybe I'll kill Iruka at his desk. That sounds reasonable, right?"

Gathering his strength, Naruto launched into yet another attack, and then another. On and on he went. When one attack failed, he tried another. Jiraiya, however, treated each one with equal contempt, often talking about how he would kill Anko or Iruka, always in great detail.

Naruto was getting desperate. His own body was telling him how close to lunch it was getting. His time was almost up, and he still hadn't hit the man. He had to do something, think of something, anything! There had to be a trick that he was overlooking! All Naruto knew was that he wanted nothing more than to beat Jiraiya's face in for threating his friends.

Shaking it off, he desperately tried to look over the last few hours and find some pattern. Hebi was out; Naruto had learned over the last few hours that it was useless against an opponent who defended instead of attacked. His wind blade was pointless, the Shunshin was draining him like crazy for some reason, Bunshin wouldn't be any help, and a henge was so unstable that he couldn't rely on it.

"You know, I've been thinking about that Ino girl. She'll probably scream; she sounds like a screamer. I'll have to sew her lips shut, then," Jiraiya said conversationally in between attacks. "Oh, well. Just means she'll have to smile through her throat, huh?"

This spurred Naruto, with a roar of fury, to greater heights of desperation. He had almost forgotten that her life was included in this fight. If he failed, then... No, he couldn't let them die! In mid-attack, he suddenly had a realization, followed by an idea.

A very stupid idea.

All of his attacks so far had been head on. He had allowed the bastard to keep pissing him off so much that he hadn't thought of it. The answer was simple, a three step attack... That was the only answer.

Charging forward, Naruto pulled a kunai and twisted his body, preparing for yet another attempt at using the Hebi style. Jiraiya, of course, causally sidestepped the attack and reached out to grab the boy's weapon only to have his hand go through the arm.

_Bunshin!_

Turning, the man sidestepped the other Naruto that was sailing through the air, only to have it turn into a log with an exploding note attached.

_Kawarimi!_

Leaping aside, Jiraiya twisted to avoid a blast of slicing air.

_Kaze no Yaiba!_

And then was promptly attacked by yet another bunshin, who had an arm pulled back, and he reached out to dispel it, only to have it suddenly perform a Shunshin and hit him in the face as he turned. Jiraiya stumbled, then, sensing the follow up attack, lashed out.

Naruto felt the air rush out of his lungs as the hand slammed into his stomach. There was a moment in which he was weightless and then was sent flying through the air before he crashed to the ground and skidded. Coming to a stop against the roots of a tree, he struggled to breathe, but he was sure about one thing: He had hit that sick bastard!

Then, he promptly passed out.

* * *

Sighing, Jiraiya poked at the lunch he had prepared, staring curiously at the still unconscious blond. It had been three hours since the test, three hours since Jiraiya had struck out and unsealed him. Yet, Naruto still wasn't awake. Snorting, Jiraiya shook his head, marking it off to having merely exhaushted himself.

Not surprising, considering the training he had been put through, which, in retrospect, might have been a bit too much for the boy. Finishing his meal, he set it aside and turned back to his book, pen twirling between his fingers. This was the first chance he had to actually get some serious work done on his book. He had forgotten just how demanding teaching could be.

Shrugging it off, he turned his mind to the more important task of writing the delicate threesome.

Three hours later, he was giggling, absorbed in his carefully crafted world. He was just getting to the interesting part -where Pari's lover, Akane, had just come back after a long trip, only to find her in the arms of her most hated rival- when Naruto suddenly leapt to his feet with a shout.

Jerking, Jiraiya fumbled with his book, then glared at the boy, who was glaring back at him.

"'Bout time you got up," Jiraiya said after a moment, turning back to his precious novel. "I fixed ya some lunch."

"Oi, you freakin threatened-" Naruto paused, then blinked in surprise. "Err, lunch?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya said dismissively. "Figured you'd be hungry after that test."

"Yeah, well... uhm... You didn't," Naruto paused, sounding uncertain as he picked up his food. "You know..."

"You're still alive, ain'tcha?" Jiraiya said without looking up, a feeling of annoyance flashing through him. "You hit me, I unsealed you. Your training's done, just go back to Konoha and make Anko proud."

"Oi, but why'd you threaten them?" Naruto demanded around his food.

Jiraiya paused, frowning as he considered that question. On the one hand, he wanted to be done with the brat as quickly as possible, and, on the other, the boy did deserve to know the reason behind the test. Snapping his book closed, the Toad Hermit turned to stare at the blond. "To show you something that my sensei kept hammering into my head."

"Huh?"

"Look, a shinobi is strongest when he's trying to protect something important to him," Jiraiya explained slowly, scratching his nose lightly. "Knowing Anko, she's probably never mentioned that protecting something important makes you stronger."

"Not really,"

"Well, that's not surprising, but it's true. You should know it. You _do_ know it, actually," Jiraiya said, snorting. "You just don't know it consciously, but the fight with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death shows that you know it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're strong for a Genin, I'll admit that. But that's because you drive yourself and work on everything twice as hard as most people. But Orochimaru has over fifty years of experience, is a Sannin, and a genius. A Genin, no matter how strong, is nothing to him."

"But, but I don't remember it all, but I know hurt him!" Naruto said angrily.

"Yes, but that's only because you were trying to protect Anko. That's what made you strong enough to stand up to him," Jiraiya said, climbing to his feet. "I threated Anko, Iruka, and that Ino girl because you talked about them more than everybody else. I had to make you realize consciously what you knew instinctively."

"... Oh," Naruto said, looking down slightly with a scowl.

"Plus, like I told you at the beginning of the month, as you were then, you could never be Hokage. Every Hokage knows that they have to protect the village and those precious to them, more than anything." Picking his various items up, he turned back to Naruto, who was scowling at the fire. "You talked about being Hokage, but all your reasons weren't good enough."

"...Everyone is precious to a Hokage," Naruto said in a low tone, snapping a stick to toss into the fire. "That old billy goat said that to me when I bugged him about why he bothered with me..."

"Yeah," Jiraiya said, smirking. "See, you knew it just had to be reminded. Now, go back to the village, get some sleep, and let me know how things go."

"Oi, you're leaving?"

"Yeah, I got to get my book to the publisher. Otherwise, I'll have wasted all my data gathering." Seeing the disappointment on the boy's face, he sighed. "Don't worry, I'll be back I got a few small things to take care of here."

"Oh," Naruto said, grinning slightly.

Turning, Jiraiya started off, whistling an upbeat tune, thinking about the freedom he now had. All that extra time to work on his precious novel. Hell, he could probably even manage to start the next novel!

Then, he heard Naruto call his name, and he paused, turning back to wonder what that runt was going to say.

"Harem no Jutsu: Anko Varaion!" Naruto shouted, a prickish smile on his face. Jiraiya was sent skyrocketing by the sight of so many nubile, nude female bodies who were blowing kisses and suggestive looks at him.

That boy was a geniuis!


	20. Chapter 19: The Third Test: Ability

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 19:  
-_The Chūnin Exams:  
_The Third Test: Ability-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Aburame were calm, collected, near perfect drones. They never snapped, nor became noticeably irritable. They were silent and, when they did speak, their voices were always reserved. This was as much a necessity as it was because Aburame genuinely enjoyed the peace. It was an established fact: the Aburame never lost their cool.

That was, of course, until Aburame Shino had been forced to spend a month with one Hatake Kakashi and Yamanaka Ino.

Between the two of them -and their idiosyncrasies- they had finally managed to cause Shino to snap. This was a feat to be applauded, since he had managed to survive numerous encounters with what was, on the face of it, an even more trying combination: Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino.

The only reason he hadn't snapped then, was because the pair had kept each other busy.

So it happened that, walking down the street with Ino talking happily beside him, Shino could feel his eye tic with each word. He could only thank the kami for sunglasses. To make matters worse -for of course they could, and usually did, get worse- Shino had the extra joy of dealing with a currently AWOL Naruto.

He found it oddly satisfying to picture his bugs swarming up and engulfing the boy until nothing was left but bone.

"So, where do you think he is?" Ino asked, looking around as her now significantly shorter ponytail swatted her shoulders. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei didn't tell us much, except that he was doing some special training, but if he doesn't hurry, then he'll be late."

"I am sure," Shino said, his tone rich with suffering, "that Naruto will be here on time. Relax."

"But-"

"Ino, I do not think that he will be so crass as to miss his own exam," Shino explained tiredly, almost whimpering. "This is, after all, a step toward Hokage."

"True," Ino admitted, falling silent for a moment before looking around again. "Where the hell is he? If we're late because of him, or ramen, I'll-"

"Oi, Ino-chan! Shino!" Naruto suddenly shouted, racing toward them and waving.

"Aha! Naruto-kun!" Ino called back brightly.

Shino was unable to do anything else but palm his forehead. All too soon, the blond boy was there with them, talking a mile a minute with Ino -taking a moment to comment on how he liked her hair, to which she blushed- as they started down the road for the stadium. Shino only listened with half an ear; otherwise, he'd end up trying to kill the boy, with his nerves in the state they were in.

"So, like, after Kakashi-sensei introduced himself and explained Anko's mission and everything, we got to some serious training," Ino said. "We sparred his Kage Bunsnhins everyday, and they kept, like, so _totally_ blocking and escaping anything I tried. The hardest part was when he wanted us to spar while water walking! That, like, really ate up my chakra, too."

"Wow," Naruto said, sounding impressed. "All Ero-sennin did was have me create a bunch of Kage Bunshin and just practice things over and over."

"Huh? What good would that do?"

"Well, er... The way he explained it was that, when each Kage Bunshin was gone, I'd gain all their experience and stuff...Which would make me learn things faster," Naruto said, scratching his cheek. "According to him, I got, like, two years' worth of training in one month."

"NO WAY!" Ino shouted.

Shino whimpered, then resolved to put a stop to their conversation for the moment. "We should hurry; we are going to be late."

"Oi, let's go, then!" Naruto shouted and took off at a run, with Ino following.

Shino sighed and shook his head, speaking to one of his equally annoyed Kikaichu family. "I agree, Kekio-chan; they should kiss and be done with it." He listened for a moment and then sighed in exasperation, knowing that his bugs were forever tainted by his exposure to Ino.

Still, he had better answer Kekio or suffer her continued pestering. "...Yes, Kekio-chan, I think you make a very pretty buzzing noise."

* * *

Dressed in his formal red and white robes, wearing the proud hat of his station, Sarutobi Sasuke, the Sandaime Hokage, stared out at the vast arena before him. To the left from where he was sitting, in stadium seating, were numerous villagers, while behind him on a slightly raised row were the various daimyos. It was a warm day, fine weather and the sun was bright... And the Sandaime was feeling every second of his sixty-nine years of life.

He refused to show weakness; he was the pillar for this village, and, until he could pass his title on, he had to stay strong. He reassured himself, however, that it would not be long. Soon enough, he could pass his mantle on. At first, when Jiraiya had appeared, the Sandaime had made the offer to him...But the man had wisely pointed out that he was no longer suited for the job, and that Tsunade would do far better.

Sandaime had agreed-sadly, since it meant he would have to bear the weight for a while longer- and then called for Anko and, after much debate, had managed to convince his old student to at least prepare Naruto for the final exam. Still, the Sandaime wondered what, exactly, Anko wanted to ask Jiraiya in private... And what he had charged her for his answer.

Knowing his student, it had been something perverted.

Sighing, he lowered his gray eyes to the arena before him, sweeping the nine leaf Genin, information that only he had access to springing to mind as he wondered what they would all become in time. There was Hyūga Neji, proud as ever, unbroken by his lot in life, and proclaimed as the most gifted Hyūga ever. There was Rock Lee, the boy nobody had taken seriously, now desperate to prove himself in taijutsu. Tenten, the girl who had survived an abusive mother and a drunken father, who was now trying desperately to become the next Tsunade.

Uchiha Sasuke, unbearably as arrogant as all Uchiha were, a genius, and determined to be second to none. Inuzuka Kiba, stubborn to a fault and the best trainer his clan had ever had. Haruno Sakura, totally devoted to Sasuke and a Genjutsu specialist soon to eclipse her own sensei.

Letting out a sigh, he turned his attention to the final three Konoha Genin: Uzumaki Naruto, defiant as ever, and sworn, the Sandaime was sure, to the gods themselves to become Hokage someday. Aburame Shino, relaxed as all Aburame, with a deeper connection to his bugs and team than any other Aburame in the last hundred years. Yamanaka Ino, nervous but proud, a kenjutsu specialist whom Hayate had once confided would, some day, become legendary in her own right.

They were all the best that this generation had to offer, and he wondered...How many would grow today?

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the ANBU politely touching his shoulder and indicating an approaching figure dressed in white and blue.

"Oh...Well, well" Sandaime said, greeting the other man with a smile. "Kazekage-dono, you made it."

"Thankfully, there were no sandstorms," the other man said as he sat down on the chair next to the Sandaime.

"Yes. Still, I imagine you must be tired from such a long trip."

"Not at all, actually. May I once more say that I am pleased that the exams are being held within Konoha this year," the Kazekage said politely. "This way, there can be no mistakes or dishonesty; Konoha ninja are far too high-minded for such deceit."

"I hate to think that any of the other Villages would allow such things to occur," the Sandaime said-knowing, as did the Kazekage, that no village was totally unbiased- before turning back to the arena, aware of the anticipation in the air. Seeing the eyes on him, he grinned to himself, offering a polite nod to the Kazekage as he started to get up. "On with the show, neh?"

Hands behind his back, the old man smiled benevolently at the examinees, then flicked his eyes over at the section where the Jōnin-sensei's sat watching. Then he settled his gaze on the crowd at large who had stopped talking to listen to what he had to say. "Thanks to everyone for coming to the Chūnin Selection Exam, held this year within the walls of Konoha! We will now begin the matches between the twelve participants who have made it this far. Please stay and watch until the end!!"

Then, amid enthusiastic applause, the Sandaime resumed his seat and watched.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was many things: confident of her sword skill, confident of her looks, proud of her family, slightly nervous to be in front of so many people, and she would admit harboring a slight crush on the boy beside her. Still, as she listened to the referee of this exam explain the rules, all of those things except the nervousness, disappeared.

They could kill each other. Ino felt her shoulders tremble slightly as she remembered killing and the fear that she could die now coursing through her. Her only means of survival were surrendering-something she couldn't bring herself to do- being knocked out or the referee declaring the match over.

Glancing nervously at the three Sand nins, particularly the red head with the pale green eyes, she doubted that he would care what the referee said or what she did. He seemed to radiate an air that shouted death, murder, and a dark glee. She prayed to all of her clan's ancestors that she wouldn't have to fight him.

Anybody but that boy!

"All right, that's all the rules...These are the matches," the referee said, holding out a piece of paper for them even as a large screen on a far wall flickered to life so that the crowd could see the same thing. Ino scanned it quickly, eyes darting to the familiar names, and then froze as she spotted her name in the first match of the opening round.

_'Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke'. _

Ino felt her stomach drop, unable to believe the cruel twist of fate that would force her into fighting Sasuke. She desperately thought of a reason why that would be impossible, how she could have misread. That had to be it: she had just read the wrong line, and she was really facing someone else.

"Everybody see who they're fighting?" the referee asked without interest as he put the sheet into a pocket. "Right, so, the first match...Yamanaka Ino and Uchiha Sasuke. Everyone else go to the waiting room."

Ino blanched, her eyes darting around wildly as she saw the others leaving. She so did not want to be there just then; why couldn't she have been fighting Sakura or something? Turning her attention back to Sasuke, she saw the pink-haired girl give Uchiha a quick peck on the cheek and then start off among the last of the Genin.

Ino felt a spike in her temper, but was distracted by Naruto.

"Kick his ass!" Naruto said brightly, with a flash of a smile, and then hurried off after the others.

Ino stared after him, then gulped, slowly turning back to the Uchiha across from her. Uchiha, who were the most feared fighters in the village; Uchiha who were almost bred for nothing but combat.

"Now, the first fight: begin!" the referee said, his hand slashing through the air.

Ino took a steadying breath, mentally reassuring herself that-even if he was an Uchiha, and Sasuke, no less- she could not let him intimidate her.

She was a ninja, after all.

Never taking her eyes off the disinterested-looking Sasuke, Ino reached for the sword slung across the small of her back. Assuming a reverse grip with her right hand, she hesitated for a moment, then took three silent breaths. On the second breath, she eased the sword ever so slightly out of the scabbard and then, on third breath, she moved: a quick step forward with the left foot, and she exploded forward with her right while drawing the sword with inaudible ring of metal on metal as she slashed at his throat.

Sasuke took a half step back, allowing the sword to whistle harmlessly through the air, before he fired off a kunai.

Ino, displaying unexpected speed and ability, completed the slash and then, shifting the blade so that it pointed down, swept it back across her as she slid her right foot around. With the kunai deflected, Ino channeled her chakra into her legs and darted forward, a downward slash aimed at the genius once more. Sasuke dodged once more, and Ino allowed the momentum to carry the blow through.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she twirled the sword in the air and caught it in her left hand, coming up to deflect several shuriken. Sliding her left foot back, she shifted her weight and lifted her sword till it was near her cheek, with the edge up and aimed slightly to the side. Narrowing her eyes, she stared along the edge and fixated on Sasuke's face before lowering them to his solar plexus to watch his whole body.

"Konoha Ryuu," Sasuke said in mild interest. "That takes some talent to use, which makes me wonder why a Yamanaka is using it."

"What?" Ino asked, taken aback by his comment. It could be taken one of two ways, and she knew he had meant it as an insult. Angry at the implication that her family had no talent, Ino made a sharp thrust forward, which was easily dodged, followed by yet another slash, which was easily dodged as well.

Sasuke, with an annoying casualness, haphazardly threw several shuriken, which she had to back pedal to block.

Coming to a stop, back straight and right foot back, she brought her ninja-to down near her waist, the tip of her blade angled up toward the charging Sasuke's eyes. Timing it as closely as she could, she made a thrust, coming within inches of skewering him.

Sasuke, however, twisted aside, his charge temporally forgotten. Ino released her left hand and twirled the ninja-to until it came into a right-hand grip.

"A pretty dance," Sasuke remarked casually. "But, then, for someone that cares more for their appearance than skill, I'm not surprised."

Ino narrowed her eyes. Just a pretty dance, was it? Someone that cared more about their appearance than skill, eh? She would show him; she only knew two 'dances,' but, by all that was holy, she was going to use them to wipe that smirk off his pretty-boy face.

With one fluid motion, she lifted her sword and twirled it around while channeling the chakra needed along the blade, then dropped to a knee, driving the tip of the blade into the ground.

"Dance of the Crashing Dragon!"

The earth rumbled and then, with a loud crack, exploded upwards in a hail of rock. Ignoring the sounds of surprise at this attack, Ino darted her eyes right and left, aware that Sasuke would dodge it. But, he would be in the air, and her second dance would be perfect for that situation.

Switching hands, Ino slid her ninja-to from the ground and around behind her, narrowing her eyes as she spotted the dark figure of Sasuke. Gathering her chakra, she slashed out at him, jumping so that her whole body was behind the strike. "Dance of the Midnight Tornado!"

There was a moment of nothing, then the chakra in the sword was sent flashing into the air, stirring into a small tornado, which crashed into Sasuke unabated. She felt a moment of triumph-she could hear Naruto cheering for her- before Sasuke disappeared like a normal Bunshin, and she froze.

Oh no.

Spinning around, she brought her sword up, her left hand over her heart, with the blade extended along her right arm. It was amazing; it was infuriating; it was impossible, but there stood Sasuke, unruffled and only a few steps away from her. Ino couldn't help but gulp as she saw his eyes: they were no longer black, but now the infamous red of the Sharingan.

"I've never seen that style before."

"It's called Tsuki Odori," Ino said, struggling to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

"Ah," Sasuke said blandly. "Another pathetic style, or maybe it's just due to the user."

In a burst of anger, Ino charged, her sword whistling through the air. In the heart beat it took for her sword to complete the arc of her swing, Sasuke calmly reached out and caught the blade between his fingers. Ino felt her arm and shoulder jar from the sudden stop, and then shock and fear raced through her as she realized what he had done.

"And you call yourself a ninja, now, do you?" Sasuke said. "What's the matter, Yamanaka? Being pathetic at your clan's own mediocre skills wasn't enough? Now you have to be sub-par with a sword, as well?"

"I am not pathetic!" Ino shouted, attempting to free her sword.

"Didn't your parents teach you, Yamanaka," Sasuke sneered, shoving the sword backward, smashing the pommel into her mouth, "not to speak when your betters are talking?"

Stumbling away, Ino cupped her mouth. Shaking her head to clear it of the pain, but not the coppery taste of her own blood, she quickly grasped her ninja-to and assumed a defensive stance.

Sasuke, however, stared at her with utter disdain. "Forfeit and save your clan this pathetic display."

"I..." Ino paused, unsure. It was obvious he was far superior to her, or at least that was how it appeared. But, the way he was talking, the way he glared at her, was making her angry. She wanted to keep fighting, to keep trying, but she wasn't sure if she should.

"Oi, Ino-chan! Don't give up!" Naruto shouted, his voice sounding odd in the silence.

Ino hesitated for another minute, then nodded to herself, eyes narrowing as she gripped her ninja-to properly once more. "I'm not going to give up, even against you," Ino managed, allowing her anger to well up and consume her. "I'll never give up!"

"Fine," Sasuke said blandly, locking his eyes with hers once more.

Ino felt as if his gaze was piercing right through her, as if he was trying to will her into submitting, and part of her wanted to. His gaze, those eyes, they were nearly overwhelming, but Ino would not back down. Ino charged once more, pushing off as Hayate had taught her so long ago, while increasing the speed and power of her blade.

Sasuke, however, was one step ahead of her, never once showing the slightest concern no matter how hard she tried. Attack after attack, feint and slash, her experience with Kakashi coming into play.! She threw everything she had at him, and he treated it all with such disdain that it was truly beginning to shatter her confidence.

Sasuke dodged, ducked, and sneered at her every effort.

After a flurry of strokes Sasuke, hurled his kunai, wrapped with an exploding note, as he hopped back a couple of yards. Ino managed to jump as the exploding weapon went off harmlessly under her. At the apex of her jump, she came dropping down on Sasuke like an eagle diving on its prey, sword held at her side for a powerful thrust.

Sasuke gracefully spun out of the way, and Ino's sword sank to the hilt into the ground, leaving her momentarily defenseless.

Yet the genius seemed utterly uninterested in taking advantage of this, instead pulling another kunai and tapping it against his thigh slightly. The instant she managed to yank her ninja-to from the ground, Sasuke charged, and the air was filled with the rhythmic sound of clashing blades.

Spinning around in perfect synchronization, they danced for a moment, then Ino spun a half step faster, trying to slice him in half. Sasuke, however, twisted and caught her wrist, pulling her entire arm straight, and Ino registered what he was about to do a half second before he did.

It was too late, and the air was rent by her scream of pain along with the sound of her elbow breaking. Collapsing, crying, and now disarmed, Ino's mind tried to retreat from the pain.

"Is that it?" Sasuke asked, his tone dripping with contempt. "Perhaps by other standards you are gifted, but to an Uchiha, you, like the rest of the village, are not even average."

Ino wasn't sure why she did it-anger, or pride, or maybe it was hearing Naruto shouting her name and trying to get her to fight back- but all she knew was that she made a desperate bid. In one fluid motion, she grasped her discarded sword with her good arm and swept it around in an attempt at hacking Sasuke's ankles off.

Sasuke hopped more than jumped, and, when he came down, he landed on her blade at such an angle that it snapped in half. Ino felt her body jerk back from the sudden change and then, eyes wide, caught a front kick to her face. In a spray of blood, Ino was sent tumbling backwards, broken sword falling to the wayside. Coming to a rest, she couldn't decide which felt worse: her head or her arm.

Through the darkening haze, she looked up at the boy she had thought so handsome and great, Uchiha Sasuke...And he looked back at her with utter contempt.

"Pathetic."

Thankfully, Ino slid into unconsciousness.

* * *

Hyūga Neji had been raised to know and understand the Uchiha, the out of-control offshoot of the Hyūga Clan.

He, like all Hyūga, understood that the Uchiha were solely devoted to combat and no philosophy. All that mattered was strength and testing their abilities, completely to the detriment of the soul. Still, they were a clan of geniuses, very good at what they did.

They were needed, and, to be perfectly honest, they were quite possibly the only clan that could rival the Hyūga. Still, within the short amount of time that the match between the Yamanaka and Uchiha had lasted, Neji, along with everyone else, had been taught a very important fact: they were consumed with an offensive, almost obscene, vanity.

Watching the Uchiha smugly walk from the battlefield, Neji smirked to himself, aware of the damage that had just occurred. He could hear the angry muttering, almost a buzzing, from the competitors' balcony. Shaking his head, Neji glanced at Tenten, who was scowling at the enthused pink-haired girl.

Restraining his urge to remind her, pointlessly, that being angry at the girl accomplished nothing, he instead focused on the Yamanaka's team mates. The orange clad boy was being restrained by the Aburame, while radiating enough killer intent to denote an impending slaughter.

Glancing away from the murderous boy, he studied the others, noting their dark looks, then turned to the entrance as the Uchiha reappeared.

"Sasuke-kun!" the pink haired girl shouted while hurrying to him.

Neji, however, was more interested in the blond boy who had freed himself and was stalking toward the oblivious dark-haired boy. He considered for a minute stopping this Naruto-he could do it- but whatever happened was not his concern. After all, the Uchiha had brought this destiny upon himself, and Neji knew better than most that you could not change such things.

"Naruto, no!" the Inuzuka said warningly, cutting the altercation off by placing himself between the two.

"You mother-fucking bastard!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke, ignoring the boy clutching at his jacket while struggling to get free.

"Don't you call Sasuke-kun that!" the Haruno said defensively. "It's not his fault if Ino-pig didn't known better than to-"

"Sakura," Naruto said, pausing as if seeing her for the first time. "Shut up."

Neji arched an eyebrow, sharing a look with Tenten. This was an interesting situation; the idiot they had taken the blond for was obviously an act. Neji could see that, and Tenten looked as if she was thinking much the same thing.

"Hn," Sasuke said, shrugging slightly.

"I don't care what you think, bastard, but just because your an Uchiha doesn't make you better than anyone else. I promise, for everything you said, for humiliating and hurting Ino-chan, I am going to kick your ass!"

"Whatever, loser," Sasuke said.

Neji shook his head, unable to believe how oblivious the Uchiha was. This Naruto was murderous, and Sasuke was treating him like he was nothing to worry about.

"Hyūga Neji, get down here or you're disqualified!"

"Neji-kun," Tenten said, her voice strained with tension. "I think you're supposed to be fighting now."

"Heh," Neji said with a final look at both boys before approaching the railing and taking the direct route to the battlefield. He barely glanced at the referee and, instead, focused on his opponent, the red-haired child with the sand gourd.

"About time," the referee said, his hand slashing through the air. "Second fight, begin!"

Neji remained unmoved, as did his opponent, the seconds stretching out into minutes. Opaque eyes stared unflinchingly into cold green ones, as if both were fighting a battle without moving. Which, Neji supposed, in a way, they were, since neither was the type to charge head first into battle against unknown opponents.

Still, this was getting them nowhere.

Someone was going to have to make the first move, and Neji supposed it would have to be him. His main goal, then, would be to discover if this other boy had an 'ultimate' defense as Neji theorized. Activating his Byakūgan, he slid his right foot back while lifting his left arm up and keeping his right near his waist.

A heart beat later, he was charging across the battlefield, his eyes noting the sand that was shifting across the ground. Still, the boy didn't move an inch, showed no emotion at all, and Neji frowned even as he came within range to attack with a well timed Jyuuken strike. The blow was absorbed by a wall of sand, which scattered from the chakra-infused blow, only to reform as Neji struck out yet again.

The sand seemed utterly impenetrable, no matter how much speed or how much chakra Neji attempted to strike with. Dodging to the left to avoid the sand as it formed a spear, then leaping back, he spun low and away. Deflecting another attack with a burst of chakra, he came to a stop, realizing now what his eyes had been telling him.

The sand was moving independently of the red head's will, as if it were alive.

Interesting.

Changing yet again, Neji ducked and weaved his way through the lashing sand. Flashes of chakra filled the air as his hands turned away attack after attack, but something was quickly becoming obvious: No matter what he tried, nor how close he got, Neji could not pierce that shield of sand...Or, at least, not without at least one other ninja.

Lee could probably pierce the shield with his speed, but he would be crushed by the sand. Indeed, it was only because of his bloodline ability that Neji was able to continuously avoid and dodge the attacks. Of course, Neji was a genius, and he could see at least one option against what this boy was capable of.

Strike. Duck, dodge, twirl. Strike. Dodge, duck, twirl. Strike. Twirl, duck, dodge.

Avoiding yet another attack, Neji grasped his shurikan and kunai, firing them off in a rapid pattern. The wall of Sand absorbed the weapons effortlessly, which was what Neji wanted. Lifting his fingers, he smirked, causing the half dozen hidden explosive notes to go off.

The spray of sand was amazing. Neji was satisfied to see the mild surprise on the other boy's face, but he was already charging through the opening he had created. He saw the sand already regrouping, folding in after him closing, off his retreat. Neji, however, focused entirely on attempting to hit the boy, his right hand whistling through the air as he skidded to a halt.

He felt his palm connect with the boy's chin, saw the surprise on his face and then realized that his blow had had no effect other than knocking the boy off his feet. He didn't have much time the sand was about to engulf him and Neji spun, emitting as much chakra as he possibly could.

Scowling in concentration as he spun, he watched as the sand crashed against his 'Hakkeshō Kaiten' ceaselessly. The longer this went on, the more Neji began to doubt his ability to keep this up, but he dug deep and didn't stop until the sand finally came to a stop and fell listlessly to the ground.

Coming to a stop, Neji turned to stare at the boy, who was standing upright and seemingly unharmed. He could not attempt that tactic again, as he had used up all of his explosive notes. Considering his options, he felt his eyes widen in surprise as he felt the coarse feeling of sand encasing his ankles.

Looking down, he almost swore: the sand was rapidly climbing his legs, effectively keeping him in place. Looking up at the boy, he saw the glint of madness in those eyes and realized his fate had never been to win this match. Neji thought briefly about using the sand to attack this Gaara, but discarded that quickly.

Suddenly, his sixth sense, the one that warned of immediate danger, flared. Neji quickly expelled as much chakra from his body as he could to free himself, and backpedaled, avoiding other attempts by the sand to grasp him. Reaching a clear space of ground, he raised his hand. "I forfeit."

The Referee blinked in surprise, then shouted for Gaara to stop, even as Neji dodged another series of attacks. A moment later, the sand hesitated-Neji wondered if the sand really was alive- then retreated back into the gourd.

"The winner: Gaara of the Desert!"

Neji, as the crowd applauded politely, considered Gaara silently, then turned his mind to the odds for an upcoming situation. Perhaps it was time to place a bet. Hyūga, for all of their greatness, held a guilty pleasure in betting.

Besides, if that Uchiha was so willing to create the fate he now faced, why shouldn't Neji take advantage of it?

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi was a great many things: a highly skilled ninja, alarmingly good at flower arranging, a decent man, and a good husband. Most important, though, was that he was a father, a very over-protective father... With a very short temper when it came to his daughter's well-being.

So, needless to say, as he was pacing in the hallway outside of the treatment room, Inoichi was rather upset. Actually, the correct term would be livid. It had been all his wife could do to keep him from jumping into that arena and slitting that prick of an Uchiha's throat. It was still a very tempting thought, actually. Sasuke might have been able to shoot his mouth off about Ino, but Inoichi had several years' experience on the boy.

The only reason he hadn't was because his wife had convinced him that Ino would not appreciate her father being arrested for murder.

So as his wife talked with the medical staff and his daughter recovered, Inoichi listened to the distant noise of the match between the Inuzuka and the puppeteer while trying to figure out how best to channel his impotent rage. He briefly considered the fact that, since he lived in a village full of ninja, he could always pay someone to assassinate the boy. It would be easy enough.

It wouldn't even have to be an official mission, either; he knew the right people to get it done without too much fuss.

He wouldn't, though. That would be wrong. No matter how badly Inoichi wanted to see the boy suffer, he couldn't pay or ask a fellow Konoha ninja to do that to one of their own. It was just too bad that there wasn't someone in this exam that would willingly do it on their own... And then, he heard a distant voice whisper that there was someone.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He was Ino's teammate and friend, had stormed in to check on her, and undoubtedly the boy was now planning Sasuke's murder. Hopefully a painful and bloody murder... Inoichi grinned. They would meet, if not in the second round, then in the final match.

Inoichi thought as he ran his fingers through his hair. From what Ino had told him after her training with Kakashi, Naruto was very strong. Which was no surprise, really, considering what little was known about the other blond, including the rumors of what had happened in the Forest of Death.

If he was strong enough to fight and hold off an S-ranked criminal, then Naruto should be able to tear Sasuke limb from limb.

Suddenly, Inoichi grinned. Oh, how stupid of him not to see this chance sooner! Before long, he was hurrying out to the arena and into the streets, heading for the nearest bar that was taking bets. This was as close to a sure thing as he had ever had: Sasuke against Naruto was going to be his payday.

It was funny, the Jōnin mused to himself: not even a full month ago, Inoichi had been upset and worried about his daughter being on the same team as _that_ Naruto. Considering the boy's past and the mysteries surrounding his survival, it was understandable. Now, though he was placing his daughter's pride as a shinobi in the boy's hands.

If he had stopped long enough to really think about what he was doing, Inoichi would have realized how strange and foolish this idea was, but was not about to stop and think. Reaching the bar, he slipped inside without being noticed, mildly surprised to feel the tension that filled the building.

Looking around, he could see off-duty Military Police officers, who were avoiding the rest of the bar, and then everybody else. Inoichi put that to the back of his mind and walked to the bar and ordered his sake before turning to the nervous-looking man who was toying with his pen.

"Are you still taking bets Bakuto-san?"

"Inoichi-san?" the man said in surprise before nodding uneasily.

Grabbing the cup and bottle set before him, Inoichi poured himself a drink and then gulped it down. "I take it the odds are heavily in that Uchiha's favor for promotion?"

"Err...yes," Bakuto said, shifting as attention turned to them.

"Good," Inoichi said, pouring another drink before quaffing it easily. "I'm putting everything on Uzumaki Naruto... for promotion over Uchiha Sasuke."

Amid the gasps of surprise, the renewed betting and noise, Inoichi poured himself another drink and then stared up at the closed-circuit TV of the arena. The match between the Inuzuka and Kankuro was coming to a close, apparently in a double K.O., but he didn't care.

Instead, he gulped down his sake and set his jaw, impatience and anger boiling up inside him. If that Naruto could actually win, Inoichi would never say another bad word about him.

* * *

Security was tighter than it had been in a long time, Seidan mused silently as he made his lone patrol of the key ANBU points through the surrounding area of the exam arena. There was a little over a hundred and fifty ANBU within the village; the bulk of the ANBU had been deployed for maneuvers near the borders or field assignments. By normal standards, it would be enough to handle any situation, but Seidan knew this would not hold true today.

Coming to a stop in the branches of a dying tree, he frowned behind his mask, studying the ANBU he could see dotting the rooftops. They were unmoving, like statues, but aware and ready for an attack from unknown enemies.

That would be their mistake.

None of them were aware that at this moment key Military Police and Jōnin were planting bombs. That their friends, comrades and lovers were moving into position to deliver in one fell swoop what had not existed since the rise of the Shinobi Nations.

Unity.

Seidan felt sick to his stomach, knowing what was coming, feeling it in the air. He could see select captains, members of Unity, motioned to those loyal to them into unapproved positions. Those ANBU who noticed where quickly killed in silence, the warning garroted just as it had begun.

He was the only one who knew, the only one who could raise the alarm. Yet he couldn't, because, in all honesty, he was not sure where his loyalty lay. Was it to the Sandaime, or to the office itself? To the ideal of what the title meant or the dream of what Unity was trying to create?

If he said nothing, if he allowed this to occur, his hands would be irrevocably drenched in innocent blood...But his loved ones would have a chance. A chance to serve a Nation that had one voice, one vision. A Nation that would have no need for ANBU or politics.

But at what cost?

"Seidan-san, status?" Kakashi's voice crackled softly in his earpiece.

"10-23, Commander," Seidan said softly, his mind and soul still in turmoil.

Which side would he choose?

He was pulled from his inner turmoil by the feeling of someone joining him on the branch. Turning, Seidan found himself staring at the bird mask of Chuugi, his friend who had placed him into this dilemma. Chuugi, whose sister he was dating, the man who believed in honesty and honor above all else.

The man that had asked him to betray the wishes of the Hokage for a dream.

"Chuugi-san,"

"Seidan-san," the man returned politely. "So, have you decided?"

It was an innocent question, at least that was how it appeared. In reality, his friend had asked the most important question of any man's life. Where does your loyalty lie? Are you willing to betray this village for the supposed good of all? Will you destroy everything you have for this dream?

"Commander-" Seidan said, voice wavering, and then he died, his sentence unfinished.

He would never know just how easily Chuugi lied to cover his murder, or that Kakashi had heard the warning in his tone. All he knew in the heartbeat it took for his life to end, was that he knew where his loyalty lay.

* * *

Rock Lee was not easily impressed. He had trained too hard and too long. Scraped his way from being a joke to become an actual, serious ninja. All with the goal of proving you could become a great ninja with just taijutsu. He still had two obstacles left, of course; his own teammate and the blond he would be fighting soon enough.

But still, watching the closing exchanges of the match between that Sakura and Tenten, he had to admit the pink-haired girl had some very beautiful movements. Plus, her skill with genjutsu was almost flawless. This had not been an easy match despite what Neji had said at the beginning.

Still, Tenten was no push over, and she did have a bit of a problem with Sakura, though Lee was unclear what exactly that was, just that it had something to do with Ino. Thinking about the girl, Lee glanced at an impassive looking Sasuke and then looked at the blond who had been glaring at Sakura through out the whole match.

Emotions would be running high, and Naruto was not likely to go down easily.

Turning back, Lee saw Tenten force her way through a genjutsu and, with expert use of her last remaining weapons,-senbon needles,- secure a victory. "YOSH! TENTEN! A TRULY BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL FLAME OF FEMININE YOUTH" Lee shouted, swept up in his emotions of her victory, just barely realizing that the orange clad boy beside him was also cheering Tenten.

"Winner: Tenten!"

Lee grinned and glanced at Neji, who merely arched an eyebrow in silent curiosity. Lee knew that look: it was the look Neji usually wore whenever Tenten did something impressive. To date, it was the only sign that Neji cared about what she did or accomplished.

"The Fifth match, Uzumaki Naruto vs Rock Lee!" the referee shouted tiredly. "Come on down, already, and let's go!"

"Yosh, wish me luck!" Lee said, flashing a smile at Neji as he hopped over the railing. A second later, he was joined by Naruto, who was sporting a gaze that was not easy to meet.

"I understand your passion," Lee said firmly, not looking away from those eyes as he assumed a nice guy pose like his mentor Gai-sensei would. "Naruto-kun, I understand so much that it hurts. I promise that if you should lose this match, that I will defeat Uchiha Sasuke for you and Ino-chan."

"... Whatever you say, Fuzzy Eyebrows," Naruto said, but Lee noted that it sounded less like an insult and more like a friendly nickname.

Aha! So, he was right, and this Naruto was a fellow bright flame of youth. Shifting his body slightly, he lifted his hand palm up, settling into his taijutsu stance.

"Now, fifth match, begin!"

Lee waited for a split second, to see if the blond would reveal his specialty, then took Gai-sensei's advice and assumed the initiative. With a surge of muscle, Lee covered the distance between them with blinding speed and, pushing off at the last minute to double his power, launched himself into a spinning jump round kick.

"Konoha Senpuu!"

A second later, he was sent crashing to the ground from a punch to the face. Recovering with an expert flip, he landed in a crouch and took a moment to study the boy across from him. He wasn't sure how that had happened; one moment the blond had been a sitting duck, and the next Naruto had been inside his defenses. Lee knew there was no way he could loose track of someone during a taijutsu exchange, but he just had.

Disturbed but not undaunted, the green-clad ninja darted forward once more with even greater speed, zigzagging to confuse the blond. It was doing amazingly well, since Naruto was looking around utterly confused. Lee grinned to himself and allowed the blond to catch a glimpse of him on the right and then darted with blinding speed to the left to catch the boy by surprise.

Naruto turned at the last moment, but Lee knew it was too late, his fist was about to smash into the blond ninja... And then Lee was caught by surprise as Naruto once more appeared inside his guard with a punch smashing into his mouth. Going with the momentum, Lee flipped, attempting to catch the blond with twin front kicks but instead hit only air.

Landing upright, Lee stared at the boy in utter confusion. This was impossible,; nobody other than Gai-sensei or Neji should have been able to stand a chance against him in Taijutsu. And yet, this Uzumaki Naruto was doing just that and, he appeared even to be beating him at it.

"You really are strong," Lee said after a moment.

"Hehe, thanks," the blond said with a smile.

Lee returned the smile and then, turning serious, launched into even greater feats of speed. Yet, no matter how fast he moved, the other Genin always managed to slip inside his guard and counter-attack. It was like trying to hit the wind, or playing a game of tag!

Still, Lee didn't give up, and, finally, after what felt like hours, he managed to nail the blond with a punch that actually managed to knock the boy off his feet. Skidding to a halt, Lee grinned at his dazed-looking opponent. "Yosh, you're it!"

Naruto shook his head as if to clear it and then slowly climbed back to his feet, smirking despite his busted lip. "You wanna play tag?"

Lee wondered for a moment about the chill that suddenly raced up his spine and then he watched, in utter fascination as the blond literally disappeared in a burst of speed. One moment he had been there, and the next he wasn't. It was like seeing Gai-sensei move.

Lee was so taken aback by this that he barely managed to register the blond reappearing in a rising crouch before him, a fist aimed at his mid-section. Lee reacted by tensing his stomach muscles a half-second before impact, lessening the chance of having the air knocked out of him. It still hurt, but he managed to react, grabbed the arm, and, twisting his hips, threw the boy.

Naruto flipped through the air, landed in a crouch and suddenly disappeared yet again.

This time, however, Lee was less stunned and waited for the attack he knew was coming, despite being unable to see his opponent. Sensing the attack coming from behind, Lee turned, managing to avoid the punch by a hairsbreadth and then countered with a vertical punch to the boy's ribs. Naruto went crashing backwards into the ground, and Lee paused, frowning in confusion.

His experience was telling him something was off in this fight. The boy covered ground with alarming speed, but when it came to his taijutsu speed, he was several steps below Lee. But he remembered the earlier exchange and wondered if maybe the boy specialized in counter-attacking.

Deciding to find out for sure, Lee darted forward just as the boy had managed to regain his feet. Lashing out with a vicious right hook, Lee realized how bad an idea this was. A split second later Naruto, the formerly sitting duck, was inside Lee's guard slamming a palm heel into his chin, followed by a spinning side-kick to the solar plexus.

Jack knifing backwards, Lee winced through the pain and managed to cushion his landing before rolling back to his feet. He noted the blond already missing and managed to avoid the incoming attack, then countered. Naruto moved again with that unusual speed of his and Lee avoided, countered, and gained the initiative.

Right until Naruto slipped through his defenses yet again.

Minutes stretched out endlessly as they exchanged blows, and Lee was finally beginning to understand his opponent. Naruto was able to cover ground much faster than Lee could at the moment, but his attacks were standard fare for ninja; it was only in counter attacking that Naruto became nigh unbeatable.

Lee didn't understand how that worked, but he accepted that, as long as he didn't attack Naruto directly, he could maintain control of the match.

Not that he was ahead by that much. In all honesty, this fight was very even, and Lee seriously considered dropping his weights. However, if Naruto _was_ a taijutsu specialist (not something Lee bought completely), he would be wearing weights as well.

So it only stood to reason that if Lee dropped his weights, then Naruto-if he was using them- would drop his, and they'd be right back where they started. Breaking apart after a particularly brutal exchange, Lee used his tongue to check a tooth. Wincing slightly, he saw the blond panting and clutching his shoulder tightly.

Lee felt some satisfaction at that sight; no matter how even they were, Lee could feel that he was dealing much more damage than Naruto was.

Then, the blond grinned rather dangerously and formed an unusual seal. "Kage Bunshin!"

Lee blinked in surprise, realizing that the boy could use ninjutsu. Then his eyes widened in shock as he suddenly found himself surrounded by what appeared to be twenty or thirty Naruto's. Somehow he didn't think they were merely illusions...

...and suddenly, this fight didn't seem so even anymore.

* * *

"Geez, why doesn't he drop his weights?" Tenten muttered, leaning against the railing, watching the shockingly-even fight below. She had never expected to see another boy as fast, or even faster, than Lee.

"Because he does not wish for Uzumaki-san to do the same," Neji explained blandly from beside her, his arms crossed and eyes flickering across the battlefield. "Which is foolish, since Naruto can go no faster."

"Huh? But if he's that fast...He has to be using weights!"

"No," Neji said with a shake of his head, as Kage Bunshin suddenly appeared on the battlefield. "Uzumaki-san is using Shunshin no Jutsu to simulate speed. If Lee would drop the weights, he would gain an advantage."

"Then we should tell Lee!" Tenten said excitedly. "He'll have this match in the bag, then!"

"I said he would have an advantage," Neji explained calmly. "He would not win, however. The more I watch, the more it becomes obvious. Uzumaki-san is not a taijutsu specialist. What he does specialize in, however, I can not say."

"Well, then Lee can-"

"Lee would have the advantage in the hand to hand," Neji said, cutting her off. "However, Uzumaki-san would fall back onto his own specialty, and, since we do not know what that is exactly, we don't know if the balance would remain in Lee's favor."

"He's our teammate,"

"Yes, but this is his fight. Don't worry, he'll notice soon enough," Neji supplied in mild interest. "Have you noticed anything strange about the Kage Bunshin?"

"No," Tenten muttered in annoyance, wanting to shout for Lee to lose the weights and not have to wait for the boy to figure it out.

"Lee is amazingly fast, yet the numbers are still too low for even Lee to have defeated so many in such a short amount of time."

"A trap?" Tenten said in surprise and worry, counting the number of Kage Bunshin present.

"No, a strategy," Neji explained slowly, activating his Byakugan and weighing his words carefully. "A basic strategy, rudimentary at best...but effective."

"What is it!?"

"You'll see soon enough."

* * *

Lee was on autopilot. There was no time to think about the next move or about how quickly the crowd of Kage Bunshin were dwindling. All there was time for was swift, decisive action. Destroy one Kage Bunshin and move onto the next, repeatedly, until either they were gone or he was too exhausted.

Clearing the field of at least seven more Kage Bunshins, Lee paused, his chest heaving as he surveyed his remaining obstacles. They were formidable, but he could see the numbers were far too thin to be a threat for much longer. Shaking such thoughts off, the taijutsu specialist focused on the two charging Kage Bunshin and rose onto the balls of his feet before exploding into battle.

The first one that reached him suffered a sidekick to the stomach and then, as that one doubled over, Lee grasped the back of his head and yanked it harshly against his knee. The Kage Bunshin promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Lee pivoted, leaping into the air, spinning as his leg shot out and nearly separated the second Kage Bunshin's head from his shoulders.

Lee landed lightly and watched with a smirk as the copy disappeared, then leaped back and twisted so that he could produce a kunai to parry a blow aimed at him from yet another Kage Bunshin. Twisting to deflect another blow, the boy lashed out with a kick to destroy another Kage Bunshin.

Soon, it all became a blur once more, deflecting the kunai from the one Kage Bunshin while dealing death to the others that were charging him. Still, no matter how it appeared, Lee knew that he and Naruto were still even,; these Kage Bunshin were just to wear him down, and he had to admit they were doing a good job.

As the blades clashed together, Lee managed a deft flick and twisted the kunai to one side, striking the Kage Bunshin in the chest.

"Grraah!" the Kage Bunshin managed before exploding.

Lee, however, was wide open as another Kage Bunshin lunged in, and Lee swing his arm out wildly in surprise. The Bunshin neatly avoided the blow, disappearing in that odd way of his, and then slammed a rapid combo into Lee's body. Punch, kick, elbow, palm heel. Lee lost track, each blow heavier than the last. Then, suddenly, he was swept off his feet, and he had a moment to register what was happening before the Kage Bunshin pounced on him.

Lee reacted a split second faster than the clone, jamming his knees under its body and pushing it off him with a heave. The Kage Bunshin twisted in the air, landed on its feet like a cat, and immediately sprang at Lee, who was on his feet once more, a second time. This time, Lee was ready, and he spun out of the way and lashed out a kunai, plunging it between the clone's shoulders.

Amid the puff of smoke, Lee sensed another attack, and he threw himself into a forward roll, dodging the hail of shuriken, and regained his feet at the startled Kage Bunshin's feet. With startling speed, Lee planted a roundhouse kick to the Kage Bunshin's face with his right foot, then reversed in the same motion to slam a heel kick to his opponent's temple.

The cracks from the impacts echoed in the still air.

The Kage Bunshin cried out, staggering away to disappear in the tell-tale puff of smoke, and Lee sensed yet another attack from the side. Turning Lee, ducked the incoming round kick and delivered several powerful punches to the ribs force the Kage Bunshin to disappear.

A second later, Lee blocked a round kick to the stomach, which left his head wide open. A second after that, he was sent crashing face-first to the ground from another round kick to the side of his head. Recovering quickly, Lee regained his feet, turning to stare at Naruto.

Naruto grinned and then darted forward.

Lee whirled around and delivered a spinning back kick to Naruto's stomach. Naruto, unprepared for the assault and in no way ready to deal with it, doubled over from lack of air. Lee returned to his defensive stance for only a fraction of a second before firing off a jump front kick to the boy's face.

Naruto, already staggering from the first blow, went flying. Lee landed before Naruto did, and he watched in satisfaction as Naruto collapsed on the ground. His joy was short-lived, however, when ten Kage Bunshins appeared out of thin air. Lee dodged to the left, striking out at the same time with his right hand, driving the punch into the airborne ninja's solar plexus.

Before the Kage Bunshin had completely disappeared in in a puff of smoke, Lee was already moving, spinning into a butterfly round kick to another Kage Bunshin's head. Landing, he allowed his momentum to carry him around and smash a spinning heel kick into the jaws of yet another two Kage Bunshin.

Coming to a stop, he paused, eyes darting left, then right; Four down, six left.

Sensing an attack from behind, he shifted his body weight and dodged the punch aimed at his head, then drove his left elbow into the Kage Bunshin's face. Pivoting at the flash of incoming orange on his right, he fired off a front kick-round kick combination that destroyed yet another Kage Bunshin.

Three left.

Ducking a round kick from the left, Lee spun into a leg sweep, taking the attacking clone off his feet, before rising with his momentum to drive a left spinning heel kick into the airborne Kage Bunshin. Coming to a stop, he dropped his leg and pivoted, hammering home, without looking, a right side kick into the face of the second- to- last Kage Bunshin lunging at him.

One left.

Dropping to the ground, Lee avoided the last Kage Bunshin, then planting, his hand on the ground, threw a sidekick to the clone's chin, lifting it into the air. Heaving, he spun, slamming several spinning kicks into the clone before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Flipping as gravity reasserted itself, Lee landed in a crouch, fingers braced against the ground as he glanced at the battered-looking, but now standing, Naruto.

"Yosh, you were truly a worthy opponent, filled with the bright flame of youth," Lee said, giving him a thumbs up in true appreciation, before sliding into his fighting stance. "However, I have won this match."

"Oi, it ain't over till it's over, Fuzzy Eyebrows!" Naruto shouted back, slipping into his own fighting stance.

Lee paused, then allowed himself to grin in appreciation. He could accept the boy's willingness not to give up; he had fought so hard and so desperately to reach this point. To surrender was not an option. Shifting his weight ever-so-slightly, Lee shot forward with all of his speed, ready to deliver the final blow and, thus, claim his victory.

It happened between heartbeats, the half-second that decides battles: Naruto suddenly darted aside with that false speed, pulling a string taut. The chain reaction was instantaneous, the half-dozen explosive notes that had been covered with dirt suddenly tearing a chunk out of the battlefield.

Lee, at the last second, managed to push off and into the air to avoid being obliterated. He was carried higher than expected by the concussive force, but all that mattered in Lee's mind was that Naruto had mistimed. It had been frighteningly close; Lee knew, if he had been a half a second slower, or if Naruto had timed it better, that he would have been ripped apart by that explosion.

Twisting in the air, he spotted his opponent, who was staring at him intently while he descended. Lee braced himself as best he could, ready to launch into his attack as soon as he landed and then realized he couldn't move his body at all. Darting his eyes away from the blond and to the rushing ground, he clenched his eyes, preparing for the bone-crushing landing.

Instead, he felt a pair of arms grasp him, and his momentum shifted, prompting him to open his eyes and find that a Kage Bunshin had snatched him from mid-air. A minute later, he was deposited on the ground by a disappearing Kage Bunshin, but he still couldn't move a muscle. Helpless, he stared up at the sky, amazed to find his blond opponent hovering over him with a kunai.

"Tag," Naruto said, tapping the blade against his forehead. "You're it!"

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" the referee announced, his voice stunned, while the crowd was cheering loudly.

Lee tried to ask how, tried to convey the impossibility of the situation, but he couldn't move his mouth. Naruto, grinning, crouched down, speaking in a secretive manner. "It's the Kanashibari no Jutsu. It'll wear off in a few more seconds...I thought I'd never hit you with it!"

Lee blinked, then felt his body relax and was helped to his feet by his new friend. "Yosh, impressive!"

"Thanks," Naruto said, leading the way off the field. "Next time, though... Let's have a real match where we don't have to hold back."

"Of course! And we shall see who burns brightest with the Bright Flame of Youthful Power!"

"Oi, has anyone ever told you you're weird?" Naruto asked thoughtfully, as they entered the stairwell to the fighters' balcony. "Cool, but really weird."

"Aha," Lee said, allowing himself to smile. "Yosh, this is coming from the boy wearing orange?"

"Why does everyone have to disrespect the orange?!"

* * *

The Hokage stifled his groan of discomfort; his back was sore, and his neck stiff. He had been sitting in one spot on a stone chair for far too long. He could not, however, just get up and leave. He had to present a strong face to the others, especially after the Uchiha's little rant from earlier.

He was definitely going to have a few words with Fugaku about his son. He would stress how important it was that Sasuke did not offend future dignitaries or the _villagers_ that provided ninja with both customers and places to eat and live. He would have to explain exactly how and why Sasuke would have to publicly apologize and admit that he was wrong.

Or the Sandaime could just wait for Naruto to get a hold of the Uchiha genius.

The Sandaime had to bite back his laugh at the thought. After the match between Lee and Naruto, he wouldn't put much value on the Uchiha's ability to pass in one piece. Hell, even without that match, the Sandaime was going to make sure he didn't pass anyway. The boy needed a lesson in humility, that was obvious.

"Hmm, who do you think will win?" the Kazekage said in a soft whisper, so that only they could hear.

"Hmmm," the Sandaime said, shifting his attention to the latest match raging. Aburame Shino versus Temari. It was so far even, at least in his opinion. "I think it's too early to tell, Kazekage-dono. Your daughter is very talented, and her intelligence is keen. However, Aburame-san is quite skilled himself, and also quite intelligent."

"Yes," the Kazekage said softly, nodding slightly. "However, I was referring to the match between the Uchiha and that Uzumaki child."

"It will favor Naruto-kun," the Sandaime said after a moment. "He did not display his full abilities, after all, knowing that his main opponent could copy them."

"True," Kazekage said. "However, he will be facing a Uchiha."

"Ah," Sandaime said. "Do not count Naruto-kun out just yet. He is quite resilient. I'm sure it will be a good match."

"I hope so; I am very interested in seeing Gaara face someone of either boy's level."

"I, as well, would like to see that."

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was having an argument with reality.

She was, naturally, losing, but it wasn't like she could just give up. After all, with her arm in a cast, she was almost promised a long period of inactivity. Ambidextrous or not, having only one arm was a liability. Cursing her fate and luck, she flopped back onto her cot and glared up at the ceiling.

If she concentrated hard enough, she could hear the noise of the exams, which was what had woken her up in the first place. There had been an extremely loud explosion, and it hadn't been until she heard Naruto announced as the winner that she had understood where it had come from. Sighing, she listened absently to the distant noises of a battle, between Shino and some other Genin.

He should win, Ino mused silently in annoyance. She would have gone to cheer him on, but her mother was dead set against letting her out of the bed. Eying the door to her room and the still-closed bathroom door, the blonde girl weighed her chances of escaping before her mother reappeared. Not good, since, a moment later, her mother stepped out of the bathroom and walked back over to the chair next to her bed.

Sighing, Ino closed her eyes.

"I know you're upset, dear," her mother said softly. "It's just that you shouldn't be out of bed just yet; you've just woken up..."

"But, the medic said I could go watch the other matches," Ino said, opening her eyes to glare at her mom.

"Yes, but I think you should rest," her mother said with a sweet smile. "I'm a mother, and I'm entitled to worry over my baby."

"I'm not a baby," Ino pouted before giving up. She had yet to win against her mom.

"Oh, I was thinking, and I know you don't like it," her mom said after a moment. "But, maybe you should work at the flower shop. We'll pay you...You could use the money to buy a new sword."

Ino winced at the memory of her last sword snapping under the heel of her former crush. It was hard, Ino mused silently, to continue liking someone when they humiliated you, insulted your family and then shattered something that was part of you. Didn't mean she wasn't hurt or that she didn't want to just curl up and cry, but she wasn't about to give that prick the satisfaction.

Sighing, Ino sat up and cradled her arm to her stomach, looking out the window near her bed, staring up at the slightly cloudy sky.

"Oh, you know that Naruto you were telling us about? He came in to check on you a while ago..."

Ino blinked, startled out of her thoughts, turning back to her mom. "He did?"

"Yeah, promised to beat that Sasuke for you."

Ino scowled, then quietly got out of bed, slipping her shoes on.

"Honey, what do you think you're doing?"

Turning, Ino arched an eyebrow at her mom. "I'm going to watch Naruto-kun kick that Uchiha's ass." Then, leaving her mom sitting there, she marched across the room and out the door. Naruto was going to be fighting for her, had promised to win, and she would be there to see it. To cheer him on, just like he had for her.

Yamanaka Ino was nothing if not loyal.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi downed his latest shot of Sake, eyes flickering to the television to check on the status of the last match. If he was not mistaken, it looked as if that girl with the fan would manage a win. He just hoped it would be soon. The only match he cared about was the one between Sasuke and Naruto, and the sooner the second round started, the sooner he would know how much longer he had to wait.

He wasn't alone; there were several others in the bar who were eager to see the match; after all, Sasuke had alienated a large portion of the village, and Naruto appeared to be the only one around to challenge him. The Uchiha present naturally scoffed at this, but said little else.

"It's finally over," someone said. "That Temari girl won, which means, Bakuto, I get a hundred ryou!"

Inoichi looked up, his fresh cup of sake halfway to his mouth. He watched in silence as they announced Temari as the winner and then, without realizing it, watched as the names for the second round matches faded into being. He heard the mutters when the first match was revealed, his hand trembled, and he gulped the sake down and then began to drink straight from the bottle.

Finished, he stood and, tossing money on the counter, started for the door.

"Inoichi-san, where are you going?" Bakuto asked, surprise in his tone.

Inoichi paused, and turned back to the man, eyes hard. "Naruto and that Uchiha are going to fight in the first round, and you think I'm going to sit here and watch it? Oh hell no; I'm going to watch that gay little pretty boy of a Uchiha get his ass stomped!"

That said, he turned and hurried out of the bar, ignoring the glares the Uchiha present shot after him and at those who cheered in agreement.

* * *

"Second round, first match," the referee shouted, sounding slightly anxious. "Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sasuke kept his face emotionless, while on the inside he was smiling in satisfaction. Finally, he could face this loser and prove himself superior. Could finally quiet the sense of ill-ease in his soul, knowing that the blond had been the last Genin ever to strike him.

"Sasuke-kun, good luck," Sakura offered cheerfully.

"Hn," the raven-haired boy offered, which was as close to thanks, as he got. Then, following his opponent's lead, he preformed a Shunshin into the arena. Landing adroitly, he flicked his eyes over the serious-looking idiot he would be fighting, noting the signs of mild fatigue.

Naruto, however, was glaring at him, with an alarming amount of hostility.

"You got something to say loser?" Sasuke said after another moment of silent consideration.

"Yeah," Naruto said, his eyes narrowing. "A Clan doesn't make you special. Your blood doesn't make you any better than anyone else."

"You keep on telling yourself that."

"I promise you," Naruto said dangerously. "I'm going to prove it, just like I'm going to be Hokage. I'm going to prove to everyone that just _being_ an Uchiha means jack shit."

Sasuke stiffened, then growled, his eyes unconsciously swirling into the feared Sharingan. "I'm going to show you the true power of the Sharingan."

"Oi, I just realized something," Naruto said in mock surprise. "You're name has Uke in it! You're a uke!"

"Wha?" Sasuke said, startled. "SHUT UP! I AM NOT AN UKE!"

"Sasuke the UKE!" Naruto shouted, grinning maliciously.

Sasuke lunged forward, covering the distance between them as fast as he could. He saw the surprise on Naruto's face, then grinned, lashing out with a vicious jab at the blond's nose. The Sharingan recorded every detail of this moment, right up until the blond some how dropped from his line of sight. Sasuke felt a jolt of surprise and deja vu ran through him, then he felt a palm-heel strike crashing into his chin.

Pain flared through the Uchiha's mind, and he was actually lifted off the ground from the unexpected blow, followed by what felt like a foot crashing into his stomach.

The end result was for Sasuke to gasp for air while he sailed through air before crashing painfully into the ground. Rolling from the momentum, he came to a stop and remained perfectly still until he could breathe again. Climbing slowly to his feet, he glared at the blond, who was looking at him with enough malice to make the Uchiha think twice.

"WHOA! HIT HIM WITH A TWENTY-HIT COMBO NEXT TIME NARUTO-KUN!" someone shouted, joined by another loud cheer for the blond to unleash his 'True Youthful Power'.

However, that brief encounter did tell Sasuke one important thing: Naruto had the advantage in close combat. Whatever style he used, it made his Sharingan's reading ability worthless for taijutsu. Which meant Sasuke would just have to keep this at long range and win through his use of ninjutsu.

Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts as he caught Naruto starting a Shunshin, amazingly enough without even an element to help cover his movements. Sharingan swirling to keep up with the high-speed movements, Sasuke watched the boy close the distance and then formed the seal for the 'Katon: Goukakyuu,' drawing chakra from his mouth into his chest before exhaling a stream of fire that erupted into a large sphere of flames.

Sasuke caught movement out of he edge of his eyes and cut the jutsu short, twisting to find the boy appearing from a hasty Kawarimi with a rock. The blond darted forward once more, trying the Shunshin yet again, and Sasuke smirked, forming another seal for the 'Katon: Housenka'. A moment later, the air between Sasuke and Naruto was filled with several dozen small fire balls.

Sasuke twisted, letting the attack fail, and lashed out with a fist just as Naruto-who had used a Shunshin in mid-Shunshin, something only Shisui had ever managed, to Sasuke's knowledge- appeared within arms' reach. The blond was wide open, and the fist connected with a satisfying crunch, snapping the boys head back. Sasuke followed this attack with several even more rapid blows before finishing with jump-reverse side kick, which sent Naruto tumbling end over end backwards before landing in a small heap.

"Heh, pathetic," Sasuke said, watching as the other boy stirred and slowly regained his feet. "Didn't you know that my Sharingan can see you when you're doing the Shunshin? Your biggest trump cards are nothing before it. I can find the real you out a hundred Kage Bunshin, and I can see through your Meisai Gakure!"

Naruto swiped the back of his hand against his mouth and grinned, teeth bloody. "Really? Well, can you see this?"

Sasuke started to respond when the blond suddenly disappeared again, but this time he was accompanied by an extreme gust of wind, forcing Sasuke to cover his eyes. Realizing the trick, the genius opened them once more, his eyes spotting the blond already in position and unleashing a jutsu.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

Sasuke felt his eyes widen a second before the gale force winds slammed into him and sent him hurtling through the air, before crashing into the wall in a cloud of smoke. He struggled to move against the blast of wind, but found himself effectively pinned in place until the jutsu died and he was allowed to topple forward.

Groaning, Sasuke slowly staggered to his feet, his joints sore and tasting something coppery in his mouth. Spitting, he swore, seeing blood splatter the ground. Looking, up he found the field empty, then feeling an attack from behind, turned just in time to find the blond crouched behind him his fingers in the tiger seal.

"Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Attack: A Thousand Years of Pain!" a grinning Naruto shouted a second before jabbing his fingers forward.

"GAH!!" Sasuke shouted as he was launched into the air, clutchinig at his ass. Landing with a thump in a cloud of dust Sasuke felt his cheeks burning in shame, made worse by the fact that so many people were laughing at him. Climbing to his feet angirly he spun, sending Naruto a glare that was just short of actually killing.

Naruto's grin disappeared as he met that glare with just as much murderous feeling.

It was time to show why the Uchiha were considered the strongest. It was time to use a jutsu that he had seen Itachi practicing lately. Clutching his wrist, he began to concentrate, his hand stinging and then burning, but he could feel the chakra rushing to his hand.

Soon enough, he'd have the Chidori, and this match would be over.

Before he could move, the ground began to shake and tremble, causing Sasuke to stumble and break his concentration. The Chidori forgotten, for a moment Sasuke thought that whatever was happening was because of some jutsu that Naruto was doing, but when he looked up at the blond, he was also looking around in confusion.

"What's happening?" Naruto asked as everyone seemed to hold their breath.

"An explosion," Sasuke murmured in surprise.

A deep, but hollow, rumble swept its way into the hall and suddenly people were shouting amid more explosions. Sasuke ignored that and instead focused his eyes on the billowing columns of smoke that were rising into the sky, where what appeared to be ANBU were fighting among themselves. Then he was pulled back to the arena as he heard Naruto shout something, and he found that the entire area was swept into a wave of violence as ninja fought ninja.

Over it all, aware that Naruto was using Shunshin to rush headlong into the competitor's balcony, Sasuke heard two words.

"UNITY!"

"GAARA!"


	21. Chapter 20: The Moment

Naruto: Altered History  
Chapter 20:  
_-The Moment_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was moving out of instinct. One moment he had been in the arena, and the next he was performing a Shunshin to the balcony. Reaching the railing a split second later, his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in the world. He had a moment to see the sheer chaos of swirling sand and a screaming red head, before he was swept back into the arena by a whip of sand.

Wincing from the pain he forced his way through his surprise, performing a somersault to land on his feet. The sound of an explosion followed this, and he grunted, springing upward with a burst of chakra. Grasping the railing, he yanked himself up and over, landing in a half-crouch, weapon in hand.

Instincts honed from training with Anko and his combat experience focused immediately on several key things: Sand covered everything including a mangled corpse, there was a massive hole in the back of the small balcony leading into the village and most of the examiness were either spralwed on the ground unconcious or absent. Spotting Ino, Naruto rushed to her side, other concerns forgotten beneath the need to make sure she was ok.

"Shit," Naruto muttered, frantically check for a pulse, a half second before he felt someone moving behind him and twisted, kunai poised to strike.

"Whoa," the girl said, lifting her hands in a stalling gesture, a small trickle of blood trailing along her face.

Naruto flicked his eyes from hers to her forehead, then relaxed. "Right, panda girl!"

"Panda girl?"

"Yeah, cause ya know... You look like a panda with those buns!" Naruto said, before shifting his attention the white-eyed boy who was approaching from behind, supporting a battered-looking Lee.

"Tenten, Lee-"

"What happened to Fuzzy Eyebrows?!"

"The same as occurred with Yamanaka," the white-eyed boy said blandly as he eased the green-clad boy into Tenten's care. "Gaara, the Sand Ninja, was caught in an attack from behind. He lashed out in a blind rage, brutally killing one of the attackers and then crippled one of his team mates when they got in his way."

"Neji, I think he's going to be okay..." Tenten said, looking up from her careful inspection of Lee's face. "Or, at least as okay as he ever is."

Naruto, however, tuned them out, turning back to Ino to check on her. His medical knowledge was embarrassingly simple; he could feel a heart beat, could tell she wasn't coughing up blood and that she was breathing.

"The others seem to just be unconscious," Shino said, and Naruto looked around to find the boy unsteadily regaining his feet using the wall . "How is she?"

"Okay," Naruto said softly before climbing back to his feet. "I think...Iunno, I'm not a medic or nothin'."

"Here, let me look," Tenten offered, and Naruto stumbled away as the older girl elbowed him aside. After a moment, she sighed, looking back up at them. "She's fine...She took a nasty bump to the head, and I think her arm might have been hurt again."

"I suggest we gather all those unconscious and carry them to the infirmary, since that is our most pressing problem at the moment."

"Yosh, he is correct," Lee said, struggling to his feet unsteadily.

Naruto opened his mouth to object, to point out that they had a whole arena full of people going crazy. Now that he had found out Ino and his friends were okay -hurt, but alive- his every instinct was screaming for him to enter the fight. He knew Anko would be out there, and she would be having fun, and Naruto wanted to be doing the same thing.

"Actually, we have bigger problems than you think," Anko's familiar voice said, as she appeared as if by magic in the balcony, followed by an ANBU, whom she promptly killed with a kunai to the eye. "Much bigger problems."

"Anko!" Naruto, said startled, even as the others -save for Neji and Shino- produced weapons.

Anko, however, ignored him for the moment, scanning the field silently before looking back at them.

"What the hell is happening?"

"Nothing you need to know about," Anko said blandly, twirling her kunai absently. "All you need to do right now is go after that Gaara prick."

"Huh?"

"Look," Anko said, sighing as she fixed them all with a stare. "We can handle the ANBU and whatever else is going on right now...Except for Gaara, and, trust me, from what Kakashi and the Hokage have told me, he's the bigger threat."

"Why?" Naruto asked, feeling a cold chill race up his spine. He had never heard that tone of voice from Anko, anxious and...afraid.

"He's got a lot of power," Anko answered, fixing him with an intense stare. "A lot of power...and, when he looses control it's not pretty. From what I've heard, the Kazekage can't even control him when he gets to that point, and now he's loose in our village, while all of our forces are trying to handle this problem."

"So it is up to us to track him down and subdue him," Neji summarized before glancing at Shino, then Lee. "However, I do not believe that all of us are fit for this pursuit."

"Score one for the Hyūga," Anko muttered. "Naruto, take Buns and whity there after Gaara okay? You others try to get these guys to the infirmary or something. We're wasting time, and I gotta get back to work."

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Oi, kick ass!"

"I always do!" Anko said, flashing him an equally insane smile.

"Uh, do you have any suggestions?" Tenten asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Anko said, turning to head for the railing of the balcony. "Don't get killed." With that, Anko jumped back into the fighting, and Naruto, with a last look at Shino to convey his message to watch out for Ino or else, led Tenten and Neji out the hole after Gaara.

* * *

"That was the last one."

Looking up at his assistant, the Hokage nodded, then glanced at the Kazekage, who was standing silently near the railing. Sandaime just couldn't fathom what was going on; all of their intel involving Unity indicated a strategic strike, not mass chaos. It made no sense, but at least they had managed to get the daimyos and others to a secure room.

"Find the ANBU Commander and-" Sandaime trailed off, rubbing at his left arm to dispel a sudden pain. "And see what else needs to be done. Myself and the Kazekage will try to help the villagers."

"But, Hokage-sama-"

"I'm the Hokage, I'll be fine. Now go." Watching as the man nodded and then hurried off, the old man sighed, approaching his much younger counterpart. "Kazekage-dono, I believe we should provide what support we can."

"I have my own priorities," the Kazekage said curtly, his eyes scanning the arena before widening in surprise. "It appears, Hokage-dono, that your village has more to fear than merely dealing with these fools."

"Are you referring to your...son?"

"Yes."

The Sandaime paused, then closed his eyes, taking deep calming breaths. although his left arm was throbbing with pain, he shoved it aside for a moment. His village was facing its greatest threat: an unstable boy with a demon sealed inside him.

"Is there anything you would suggest, Kazekage-dono?"

"Prayer," the Kazekage said blandly. "I am sure that your ANBU are aware of the danger he poses; hopefully they can subdue him. If he is forced too far, I fear this village will have to weather his wrath."

Turning away, the Sandaime rubbed at his chest as the pain from his left arm spread. His breathing was growing labored, and he knew without being told what was happening to him. Still, he had a responsibility to his village, he had to protect its people. Glancing at the Kazekage, who was staring aimlessly at the battles ranging below him, the Sandaime started off, only to stumble, growing dizzy.

No!

Shaking his head, feeling a chill sweep through him, the Sandaime forced his way through the dizziness and continued on with his task. Still, he knew, his days were shorter than even he had anticipated.

He was Hokage, though, damn it, and he wasn't going to give up until he saw his job done.

* * *

Anko grinned, her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she threw herself into a diving crouch, followed by a cartwheel. Dodging the hail of kunai that punctured every inch of the space she had occupied, she worked her way ever closer. She heard the curse of the rogue ANBU a split second before she struck, knocking his arm up as she crouched and spun, driving the kunai between the armor plates.

"D-damn...you..." the rogue hissed as Anko slammed her palm into her weapon to drive it in deeper before yanking upward. A spray of blood later, she was moving like a flash once more, like a ghost, avoiding the man's partner.

Her adrenaline rush was in full force, coursing through her as she danced her way through another storm of metal. Spinning into a coil, she launched herself into the air, dodging even more weapons. They came dangerously close to piercing her -she could feel the wind from the blades- but she managed to avoid that fate.

Coming down, she drove her foot into the man's mask, cracking it, then, with a pivot, she pushed off at an angle, slamming a front kick into yet another rogue ANBU. He hit the arena wall, then stumbled forward once more, and Anko calmly drove her kunai into the hollow of his throat.

It was her precision as an assassin, making her movements smooth and silent. Grinning, she looked around, eyes flashing in excitement as she tried desperately to find something else to attack. She was back in her element, and she wanted to hold onto the moment for as long as she could. Spotting a familiar tuft of white hair a short distance away, about to be caught in a pincer movement, Anko shot her hand forward.

"Seneijashu!"

A second later, she grimaced as snakes erupted from her sleeve and hurtled across the space to entwine the ambusher. Yanking her arm, she jerked the man off his feet, then, twirling her arm and the man over head, she sent him crashing into another group of rogue ANBU.

Grinning in satisfaction, Anko joined Kakashi as he finished his other opponent. "I didn't know today was my birthday."

"Wha?" the masked ANBU commander managed, deflecting a stray kunai.

"Well, all this...I thought I'd have to get my jollies just watching Naruto kick that Sasuke's ass." Anko chortled, deflecting yet another stray weapon.

"...You never change," a new voice said, shortly before the owner appeared with the fall of a rogue who had been approaching from behind.

"Ibiki!" Anko said happily, staring up at the scarred man.

"Anko," the Interrogation expert returned with a small smile before looking at Kakashi. "I just got word that we've settled most of the outer areas."

"Good," Kakashi said, scanning the immediate area.

Anko herself frowned, her mind turning toward a nagging feeling she had. Something that she had been avoiding thinking about ever since the battle had started. Something that was only growing in strength as she watched the skirmish between Unity and the ANBU. "Why the hell are they doing this?"

"Because they want one ruler," Ibiki said sarcastically.

"No," Kakashi said, glancing at the man. "I believe Anko was referring to why they are attack en masse. After all, the modus operandi has been small scale. Assassinations, playing things close to the cuff. Now they've gone public... And they're utterly ignoring the Fire Daimyo."

"Yeah," Anko said, shaking her head as she tried to think about what they were attempting to gain. She could see nothing and then, remembering that she had sent Naruto after Gaara, she felt a knot of concern settle in her stomach. "You better send a few people after Naruto,"

"Why?" Kakashi asked, glancing at her.

"Gaara," Ibiki said simply, glancing between the two.

"He was attacked and went after his attacker into the village. When I arrived, most of the Examinees were out cold."

"So you sent Naruto after him," Kakashi summarized almost blandly. "Did you send anyone else?"

"Yeah, the Hyūga and that girl with all the weapons."

"Well, that would be a solid team," Ibiki said with a smirk. "A boy capable of holding his own against Orochimaru for a few minutes, a genius that can track and a weapons expert."

"True," Kakashi admitted before sighing.

"Well, they'll still need help," Anko said with a scowl.

"I wouldn't worry. Sasuke is on his way to Itachi to deliver a message to find Gaara." Kakashi explained, his eye curving upward happily. "Best case, Sasuke dies after delivering the message, and Itachi arrives so they get the backup needed. Worst case, that li'l Jutsu thief gets killed before he delivers the message, forcing Naruto and his team to handle it alone."

"Aww," Anko teased. "Is the Copy Cat Kakashi upset that someone stole his special Jutsu?"

"No, no," Ibiki said, chuckling. "Surely not the great Copy Cat Kakashi, who's copied over a thousand moves!"

"...Sometimes I wish the Kyūbi had just eaten you two," Kakashi said blandly.

"Being eaten isn't so bad," Anko quipped with a teasing grin on her face, amused by both men's blushes. "I find it rather enjoyable, myself..." with that, she darted back out into the fray, shoving her amusement to the back of her mind as she killed a distracted rogue in passing.

Among the cacophony of clashing weapons and Jutsu, Anko darted and weaved. In the space between heartbeats, she danced, bringing death and destruction in her wake, grinning a maniacal grin that only Naruto and Orochimaru had ever seen. Her jacket was shredded, her fish netting ripped in places, and still she lost herself in the sheer joy of the slaughter.

Yet, despite her business with bringing as much death as she could to her enemies, she kept checking the link between her and Naruto. Because she knew Gaara was not the only thing they had to be wary of. What Naruto had inside him was potentially more dangerous.

More importantly, however, she kept checking to make sure the closest thing she had to a brother was still alive.

* * *

That was the fifteenth body, Naruto thought darkly as he followed Neji away from the rooftop. They had been at this for nearly an hour, trying desperately to catch up with Gaara, especially after they had discovered the first body. You would think it'd be enough to kill your attacker, but no, the boy was leaving a trail of corpses behind him, each more gruesome than the last.

To make matters worse, Naruto could still see skirmishes going on as they raced after Gaara. True, it wasn't like earlier, a near riot, but still. Naruto had to keep beating down his urge to deviate from his path and help, settling instead on the occasional Kage Bunshin. Still, he wondered how he got himself talked into this.

He remembered, of course, Anko telling him to go after the red-head, but he was seriously beginning to think this was a waste of his skills. After all, there was fighting going on all around him, and he was stuck _chasing_ a ninja. Naruto, for all of his skill, brilliance and roguish good looks, did not have the patience to deal with an invisible enemy.

Turning his gaze away from yet another brawl between Konoha nins, the blond forced his mind onto another topic. Mainly Sakura, how she could have still cheered Sasuke, and how he had finally accepted what Anko had told him so many months ago. Naruto had never really known her; he knew she could be bossy and a tad violent, but he had always believed she would at least be able to see past a crush for the important stuff.

Instead, she was still blindly devoted to that prick of an Uchiha, and Ino was still hurt, and Naruto wanted to make something bleed. Still, he couldn't help but realize something very strange about how things were going. That Uke had Sakura and Ghostie, the boy currently acting as a tracker, had Panda girl. At the rate things were going, Naruto would end up with either the psychotic bitch or I-

"Something's been bother me," Tenten said, her tone anxious, utterly unaware that she had just derailed Naruto's thoughts.

"Oi, what about?" the loud ninja asked, shoving his thoughts and annoyance to the back of his mind.

"We know our specialties -weapons and tracking- but not yours. What, exactly, do _you_ specialize in?"

"Huh? Why do you need to know?"

"Because the more we know, the better our strategy." Neji said, attention never wavering from straight ahead.

Naruto blinked, then stared at her curiously before shrugging. He had never stopped to think about what exactly he specialized in. Not taijutsu, that was for sure. Ninjutsu? Well he was strong at that, but that didn't feel right. Thinking about it, he frowned ever-so-slightly, wondering if there was some clue he had over looked.

"Well?"

"I..." Naruto stopped and scowled, remembering that Ino had taken after Hayate, and that Lee had claimed that, without someone named Gai, he would be nothing. If you specialized in whatever your sensei specialized in... Naruto looked back over his skills. Well, it didn't feel _entirely_ right, but it was close. "Assassination. I specialize in assassination."

"What?" Tenten said softly, eyes wide.

"Considering what I have seen," Neji said seriously without turning his head, "you have the skills to support such a specialization. However, I believe it would be more accurate to say you specialize in combat and tactics."

"Whatever," Naruto said. He hadn't spent a lot of time around the white-eyed boy, but Neji irritated him. He always spoke as if he knew everything. He couldn't imagine how this prick and Hinata from the academy could be related. Still, at least he wasn't as big a dick as Sasuke.

"So, Naruto-kun," Tenten said, taking over the conversation once more. "Who exactly was your sensei? Plus, I've never heard of a family or clan with your name."

Naruto almost told her that it wasn't his real family name, that he was really an Namikaze, but that wasn't right. Whatever he felt for his dad, the man had erased that name for several good reasons. "I'm an orphan."

"Oh," Tenten mumbled, looking away slightly. "Well, what about your sensei? I mean, I know that the Uchiha and his team had Yūhi Kurenai, and we've got Maito Gai..."

"I would hazard Gekko Hayate," Neji said blandly, "judging by how the Yamanaka girl handled her sword."

"Well, when I was transfered to the team for this exam he was. But then my sensei took over for some reason." Naruto offered, shrugging, "I might have asked why, but you met her just now-"

"Anko is your sensei?" Neji said his tone turning cold, then at Naruto's nod it became glacial. "Mitarashi Anko, student of the of the Sannin Orochimaru? _That_ Anko?"

"Err, yeah," Naruto said, blinking. "You got a problem with her?"

"She and her sensei killed several of my clan while developing their taijutsu style," Neji grated out harshly.

"What the hell do you know about it?!" Naruto said angrily, his mind replaying everything Anko had said to him a few months ago. "Pampered little bastard."

"Don't talk to Neji-kun like that!" Tenten said angrily. "He is a member of the Hyūga, the strongest clan there is, and he has every right-"

"Not another 'my clan is the strongest' bastard!" Naruto said, voice rising in anger. "Plus, like, she's sorry for all that shit! You don't understand what it's like to be so desperate for acceptance that you'd do anything!"

"First," Neji said, finally looking away from the path they were following, "do not mistake me for that pretentious Uchiha Sasuke. Hyūga are the strongest, but it is the Clan itself, not the individual members. Any one Hyūga can be overcome, but as a Clan we are the strongest in the Leaf. There is, after all, a difference between justified arrogance and pompous stupidity."

"I don't see a difference," Naruto said darkly. "You're both stuck up bastards."

"Second," Neji continued as if he hadn't heard Naruto,"there is no excuse for what she has done to my clan. She is forever an enemy of the Hyūga."

"Like I said, you're _exactly_ like that bastard Sasuke." Naruto said, as he spotted another body which brought him back to the situation. "So does anyone have a plan?"

"I have an idea," Tenten said almost cautiously. "His sand is the biggest problem for us, right? I noticed that when Neji-kun used his explosive notes in his match, it was momentarily rendered useless. If we have at least one person providing explosive attacks, then the two best at combat could strike."

"It is a sound plan," Neji said with a curt nod. "However, we are entering an area of the village I am unfamiliar with, and our target is still ahead of us."

Naruto blinked, then grimaced. Now that Neji mentioned it, Naruto realized where they were. Still, he had a job to do, and, no matter what, he had to stop Gaara. Better here, in the slums of Konoha where almost no one lived than in the more populated areas. "I know where to go," Naruto said sourly.

"Where?"

"There," Naruto nodded at a taller and slightly less-decrepit building. "We can cut him off there, trust me..."

"He does appear to be heading toward that building," Neji allowed, his tone guarded. "However, I don't see how to arrive before him on our current path."

"I know a shortcut."

"How can you be so sure?" Neji asked as the group shifted directions, with Naruto taking the lead and Neji watching Gaara.

"'Cause," Naruto said lamely. "It's my apartment."

* * *

Hinata couldn't believe what her world had become. In a matter of a minutes, she had gone from watching the match between that awful Sasuke and Naruto-kun to trying to evacuate the villagers during an apparent revolt. It was mind boggling. Still, the heiress was thankful that at least the enemy were ignoring them, and she hoped that Naruto was safe.

Using her Byakugan to confirm that her teammates had the last of the villagers from this section of the arena, she froze. The immediate section was clear, and she had stretched her sight, looking further, and what she saw made her pause. It was impossible to say what shocked her more, the fact that three academy ninja were purposely attacking a group of rogue ANBU, or the fact that the Hokage was struggling toward them.

Focusing even more on the scene that had frozen her, she felt her mouth gape slightly. What medical training she had, one of her stronger points, told her that the Hokage was seriously hurt.

"Asuma-sensei," Hinata said in her whisper-like voice. Still, the bearded man heard her; he had learned long ago to keep her close by, since she was not a combat type.

"What is it, Hinata?"

The girl winced as one of the Academy students took a hit. "There are three Academy students in the next section attempting to engage rogue ANBU and, anou, the Hokage is rushing to intervene. However, uhm, he looks very bad, Asuma-sensei."

"Shikamaru! Chōji!" Asuma shouted almost immediately. "Follow us."

A minute later, Hinata was racing alongside Asuma, feeling a knot of worry forming in her stomach. The Hokage had engaged the ANBU already, but the more she saw, the more certain she became that he was very unwell. A second later they arrived, with Shikamaru using his family technique to bind the ANBU, Chōji rushing forward to grab the two nearest children, while Hinata moved to tend to the unconscious boy, and Asuma moving to take care of the two ANBU.

They were a very efficient team, after all.

The minute it took for Team Asuma to arrive and take matters into their hands, the Hokage had finished his first ANBU. Then, he stumbled and clutched a seat for support. Hinata was there in a heartbeat, followed by Asuma, who was chewing his cigarette nervously.

"Anou, are you okay?" Hinata managed, reaching out to help the old man to a seat.

He brushed her off, a weak smile on his face. "I'm fine, just fine... Not as young as I used to be is all." He paused, taking a sharp breath and rubbing at his chest weakly. "Are there any other villagers?"

"No," Asuma said, reaching out to put his hand on the old man's shoulders. "Maybe you should sit down, Hokage-sama, get some rest?"

"No," the old man said thickly, trying and failing to continue supporting himself with the seat. Hinata reacted a split second behind Asuma, both shinobi grabbing the old man to attempt to arrest his fall.

Hinata's mind was flashing through the basic medical information that she had, taking note of the rubbing of his chest and the shortness of breath. Paleness and sweat. "A-anou, Hokage-sama...uhmm... Is your left arm, anou, is it hurting?"

"N-no... Well, it's nothing really..." Sandaime said his eyes flickering to her before back to Asuma.

"Shit," Asuma said, hurriedly taking the man into his arms and standing. The Jōnin spared a moment's attention on the two males of his team holding the other two hurt and irate Academy students. "Shikamaru, Chōji, bring those two. Hinata, bring that other one and follow me. We have to get to the hospital."

"Yes," Hinata said, shoving her nervousness down, aware that the Hokage's life now hung by only a thread. Gathering the unconscious boy into her arms, she followed after Asuma, fighting the urge to tremble and fall apart. Still, she was a Konoha ninja, and, right now, her Hokage needed her to be strong.

All she could really do, besides tending to the boy in her arms and rushing after Asuma, was offer her prayers.

* * *

The sand moved silently, the whispered voice craving blood, as it raced unnoticed parallel to the fleeing ninja, before whipping around and arching up to form a wall. The ninja hit the wall hard and before he had a chance to recover, the wall of sand collapsed encasing him within a cocoon of sand. The man's shout of surprise became a scream of pain and terror as the sand tightened around his body like a massive fist.

Standing on the opposite rooftop, arms crossed, Gaara watched with a maniacal grin on his face and a sadistical joy in his heart. The crunching of bone as it snapped from the pressure, the gouts of blood and bellowing screams as the ninja hemorrhaged. It was such a magnificant and beautiful thing, and lifting his hand methodically, he felt his mother cry out for the release of even more wonderful blood. He squeezed his hand, slowly crushing the final dredges of life out of the man.

Grinning, he snapped his fist shut, finishing his gruesome display in a spray of blood and sand.

A shiver delight raced up his back, while his mother feasted in delight and without warning his head throbbed and his body screamed to release his full power. He struggled against it -he didn't want to now- but the earlier blast had awoken the spirit that dwelt inside him. Collapsing to one knee, he clutched his head and squeezed his eyes, grimacing as he fought for dominance. It was a loosing battle; he could feel his armor of sand cracking, crumbling, and the voice of his mother urging him gently into just letting go.

He was losing control, he was losing...losing... Opening his eyes, Gaara looked up as three Konoha ninja arrived. A sick and dark amusement welled up from the spirit that was claiming his mind. Even more of his armor chipped and then peeled away, and Gaara couldn't help the deep, ominous chuckle that escaped him.

"What the hell is wrong with him?"

"I am unsure if this was a wise course of-"

"You that are strong, you that have ambition, you that has companions...Once I have destroyed all of that, only then can I feel it, can I be alive!" Gaara managed through a slavering desire for death and destruction. With a silent roar, his mind shattered, and the sand consumed his arm, wrapping and twisting around it, shaping half of him into a blue veined monster. "Come! Let me feel it!"

"Scatter!" the white eyed boy said. A split second later, as Gaara lunged, his deformed hand whistled through the air to destroy a part of the roof and capture the brown-haired female.

Gaara paused, drooling with anticipation as he gazed around in a mad delirium. "Are you afraid of me?! Afraid of my existence?!"

"Like hell!" one of his toys shouted before the female in Gaara's grasp exploded.

"GYAAHHH!!" Gaara screamed, his monstrous arm torn apart from the blast until a dark humor welled up from inside him, and he began laughing while his arm began to reform. "I see, so that was it!"

"What the hell!?" another brown-haired female said, freezing in surprise.

Gaara homed in on it immediately, and his arm shot forward, extending as it went, absorbing the weapons it encountered. A moment later, he felt the heavy thunk of meat as his sand impacted against her. Roaring, he squeezed, earning a scream of pain.

"I WANT MORE!" Gaara screamed at the sky and the gods themselves. He was rewarded as a several rapid chakra- enhanced palm heels struck him, followed by kicks, a leg sweep, and an explosive note attached to his arm to free the girl. Reeling, Gaara stumbled from the blows and explosion before falling through a weakened section of the roof.

Even as he fell, Gaara began to tremble in anticipation of seeing even more blood.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but wince as he watched Neji tear into the deformed Gaara. Those blows had to have hurt, monster or not. The look on Neji's face alone had been enough to convince Naruto never to hurt Panda Girl. Still, he was a ninja, and, for the moment, these were his teammates, so at the last minute, realizing that Gaara would pull Tenten down with him through the roof, Naruto had darted forward and used one of his few exploding notes to blast the sand arm and free her.

No sooner had he caught her and landed than Neji was there and already taking over. Moving away, eying the hole where Gaara had fallen, Naruto waited.

"Uzumaki-san," Neji said after a moment studying the prone girl's body, "Tenten needs medical attention immediately."

"I don't think we can-" Naruto began, turning to look at the boy and then paused. Admittedly, emotions were not easy to read for him, especially in this Neji guy, but Naruto could see something. Naruto knew it was different from what the boy normally displayed. He wasn't even sure what it was, but he knew. "Is she okay?"

"She's bleeding internally; I think her ribs have been broken," Neji rattled off seriously, even as he climbed to his feet, cradling the limp body in a rather heartbreaking fashion. "There's an ANBU heading toward us; however, they are several minutes away."

"Okay," Naruto said. Team mates kept each other alive, after all. "We'll head for them, then come ba-" Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as he was knocked off his feet, as the section of roof behind him exploded, allowing the twisted form of Gaara to reappear.

Naruto recovered first, in time to see Gaara lunging for a stunned Neji and an unconscious Tenten. It took only half a heartbeat to react; a Shunshin -which was surprisingly painful- later, he was between Gaara and his two team mates, slamming a jump round kick into Gaara's face, which sent him hurtling across the rooftop. Landing in a heap, breathing heavily, he glanced at Neji and Tenten. The boy seemed to have recovered and was scooping Tenten up.

"Uzumaki-san, we should retreat."

Naruto shook his head, watching as Gaara regained his own footing. "You go, take her and get some help... I'll keep Sandy here busy."

"I am not sure this is a wise plan," Neji countered, even as Naruto created Kage Bunshin and had them charge Gaara.

Turning, Naruto fixed him with a stare, the sort of stare that would do Anko proud. "Oi, I got this! You go, get her help, and then get me some!"

"Uzu-"

"Go!"

Neji nodded once and then took off. Naruto had a moment to consider what he had just done and then, using a blade of wind, managed to deflect a blast of sand. His body, however, seemed to be more exhausted than he first thought and, without warning, Naruto wavered before collapsing to one knee.

Struggling his way up once more, he locked eyes with the monster across from him, noting almost absently how cold and lonely they seemed.

"What's the matter? Aren't you going to run away too?" the deformed ninja across from him taunted, saliva trailing from his mouth.

"I don't run away."

"You're protecting them," Gaara said, his features contorting slightly. "Why? What do they mean to you? Why are you protecting them?"

"Because," Naruto said, creating even more Kage Bunshin and realizing once more just how low on chakra he was. "I'm the only one that can... So stop now, or I'll kick your ass!"

"Let me prove my existence!"

Naruto charged without a second thought, his clones following his lead. He doubted he could produce another Shunshin, so he settled instead for the tried-and-true method of channeling chakra into his legs. The distance between him and Gaara shrank, and Naruto pulled his arm back, kunai in hand ready to strike, mirrored by his clones. Then, his world exploded as that tail of sand whipped around and slammed into him.

His chest felt like it was caving in, his head hammered with a throb of pain. Then, he slammed painfully into the roof and rolled away, clutching at his chest. Coming to a stop, he winced as he smacked into the edge of the roof, wishing he had thought that through better. Forcing his pain aside -he had felt worse under Anko (not by much, but still)- Naruto pushed his way back to his hands and knees. "Shit... Fine, no Taijutsu."

"Is that all you have?!"

Glaring at the hulking creature, Naruto decided it was time for the big guns. Gathering as much chakra as he dared, the blond lunged to his feet while forming the tora seal. "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" A second later, Naruto watched in satisfaction as the gale-force winds slammed into Gaara, throwing him bodily backward. However, that attack had no other real effect, except to cave in the wall of the building behind him.

Cutting it short, Naruto stumbled, head swimming. He had used a lot more chakra than he had intended, and, worst of all, Gaara was already on his feet and laughing, completely unfazed. The blond prepared for an attack, but watched in muted fascination as the boy crouched, the sand spreading even more until his entire upper body was now deformed and covered in those thick blue veins.

"I fight only for myself!" Gaara shouted, and Naruto started to charge until the boy crossed his arms and swung them forward, sending blasts of sand at him. "SUNA SHURIKEN!!"

Naruto cursed and tried to perform a Shunshin, only to feel his body jerk in pain from the attempt. It was too late, however, and he was caught in the hail of sand shuriken; it was all he could do to cover his head and chest with his arms. Not that it did much good, since he was knocked off his feet and sent slamming into the edge of the roof once more.

Coughing, the blond rolled over onto his side, then tried to push himself upright. He collapsed and then tried again, wincing as his body reported just how much he was hurt. "W-what the hell is he?" Naruto murmured to himself in a daze, staring up at the ninja that was now more monster than human. Whatever had been Gaara was gone; all that remained was a creature made up of massive arms that ended in oddly-shaped hands; a curving, spiked tail; and those sad, insane, gold eyes.

"What's wrong afraid of me? To fight for yourself... Or to fight for others... Just love yourself!"

Naruto, shaking his daze off, struggled to his feet. He didn't waste the time on thinking of what to say; instead he thought desperately toward how to win this fight. He was low on chakra, alone, outmatched, wounded... But he refused to stop.

"Fight only for your own sake! That is the way of the strongest!" Gaara taunted, flexing those odd clawed hands of his. "Come on, fight me! Show me the power that you think would make you Hokage, and I'll crush it!"

With a wordless roar at the insult, Naruto charged, forgetting about why he was even fighting.

* * *

Despite what Kakashi had said to Anko earlier, he really had hoped that Sasuke would reach Itachi. He knew that Naruto was strong for a Genin, probably the strongest one at the moment, but Gaara was a very large threat to the village. He had seen the reports, had heard the cobbled-together case history.

Gaara was basically uncontrollable, especially when he gave into what was sleeping inside him. Plus, there was the little matter that Naruto was his sensei's last living relative, and he would hate to have the boy's death on his hands. So, when Kakashi received word that Sasuke had turned up on the other side of the village, without having ever made contact with Itachi, the Commander was understandably pissed.

To make matters worse, despite having for the most part settled the fighting outside arena, he couldn't spare any ANBU.

So, when he received a garbled report from an ANBU who had just returned from a long range patrol, he had felt a moment of joy. He had issued his orders and left it at that after all, any ANBU was better than none. Or so he had thought, because now he was receiving yet another report from the previously-assigned ANBU and was feeling a great deal of annoyance.

Why?

Because the ANBU he had assigned to relieve Naruto was busy playing nurse to Neji, while rushing Tenten to the hospital. To further increase the Commander's irritation, apparently a new outbreak of Unity was occurring near said hospital, where the Hokage was currently being attended to after suffering a heart , he had managed to send Ibiki to gather Itachi and his team, so that they could handle the Unity near the hospital.

Which meant he was now actively hunting for the only person he knew that could take two spare green recruits and provide decent backup for Naruto. Mitarashi Anko, who was currently slaughtering anything that even came within striking distance and she did not see as a friend.

Ducking the slash of his own enemy and then shoving a kunai through their throat, he studied her between opponents, thankful that Naruto would never know how accurate he was in calling her a psycho. Stepping and spinning to slip past another attackers guard, Kakashi shoved a poisoned kunai into their ribs and continued on toward Anko.

His Sharingan could make out the faint traces of blood flecking her skin and hair, and he shivered; she was brutal.

Then again, she _had_ earned the nickname Reaper for a reason.

Kakashi parried a block, knocking the arm up while slamming a front kick into the rogue ANBU's chest. By the time the man landed and rolled to a stop near Anko, Kakashi had covered the distance, kunai slashing through the air. The rogue tried to regain his feet and block at the same time, but missed, allowing Kakashi to drive the blade into his collar, then, spinning, jam it between the armor plates of another.

"Nice," Anko commented, a sadistic grin in place as she slaughtered another rogue ANBU.

"Thanks," Kakashi said wearily, glancing around at the arena. He winced, knowing each name and face of the dead that were littering the area. "I need you-"

"Not now," Anko said, eyes darting to another rogue ANBU. "But after we're done here you can have me..."

"Not like that," Kakashi said. "Anko, Sasuke never made it to Itachi. He got sidetracked and Naruto's alone, fighting Gaara."

He was surprised by the sudden shift in her attention, along with the sheer malevolence radiating off of her. "What?"

"Neji and Tenten were injured, and Naruto covered their retreat," Kakashi explained, motioning for the two ANBU he had selected earlier. "I don't have anyone to spare; most of us have to stay here, and the Military Police are straining to keep the villagers under control and Unity pockets from spreading. I sent Itachi and Ibiki to the hospital because Unity was in the area, and the Hokage's there in critical conditio-"

"You talk too much, Kakashi," Anko snapped. "I'm going to help Naruto." Then, as if he had no say in the matter, she took off, killing anything that got in her way. Her backup was several steps behind her, muttering that this was a very bad idea.

"Great," Kakashi muttered, moving back into the fighting. "I must be getting old; I just sent the Reaper to help a boy that managed to hold off one of the Sannin. Gaara's going to be slaughtered."

Killing a random Rogue, he sighed. "I'm going to be blamed for the death of a Kage's son." Ducking, he killed yet another Unity member. "...Kami, if Anko wasn't great in bed and a new Icha Icha was due out in another month, I'd have nothing to live for."

* * *

**Why!? **

Gaara inhaled deeply, his monstrous chest expanding before he belched forth an overwhelming gust of wind to turn back the pathetic attack. The Kage Bunshin who had all been attempting to use the Kaze No Yaiba, were decimated by the combined power, and the real Naruto suffered the brunt of the remaining force. It should have been over, the blond should have been begging or trying to flee. Instead, he was struggling to stand again, blood dripping from his mouth.

_Why..._

Gaara hurled another blast of Sand Shuriken, knocking the boy down once more. Naruto started to rise, shaking his head as he reached his knees before collapsing. Still, he tried to stand yet again.

_wouldn't_...

Gaara lashed out with one of his massive hands, slamming the boy into the roof and then pressing down. He was rewarded with a scream, but when released, the blond tried to rise once more.

_he_...

Gaara roared and launched himself through the air, but his prey dodged to the left and tried hit him in the face with a blade of wind. Reeling from surprise, Gaara lashed out, satisfied to hear a crack as some bone was broken. Turning, he glared at the figure, who was struggling upright.

_stay_...

Gaara hesitated, watching, his mind unable to comprehend what he was seeing. He stumbled, head throbbing, as he remembered his uncle, remembered what it used to feel like when he believed he was loved. When he had something precious. Gaara lashed out in a blind fury, decimating the buildings around him and the boy before him.

_down?_

Gaara felt his breath coming in shorter stabs, his mind and heart tearing themselves apart as he tried desperately to understand why this Naruto would keep getting up. Why didn't he stay down? Why didn't he beg? Why didn't he run away? WHY DIDN'T HE FIGHT FOR HIMSELF!? How could he be this strong... Why was he this strong?!

"I'll never..." Naruto hissed through clenched teeth, his hands balled into fists.

Gaara lashed out, not knowing the answer, but knowing how to silence the disquiet growing within him. If he killed this boy, he could prove his existence. Could prove that he was right! That you had to fight for yourself! He launched Sand Shuriken after Sand Shuriken, blast of wind after blasts of wind, slammed the boy into the roof with his hands.

Sprays of blood, screams, pain... None of it soothed his shattering mind. It only got worse as Naruto tried, failed, then tried to stand again.

"You..."

"I won't give up...even if I die, I won't lose..." Naruto slurred, blood dribbling from his mouth. "You're not going to beat me..."

"Why?!" Gaara raged, knocking the boy down yet again. "Why? Why do you get up!? Why do you keep fighting! Are you fighting for those that abandoned you? Love? Whatever the reason, to fight for others... You can't beat me unless you love yourself! I FIGHT FOR MYSELF! That is my strength!"

He watched as the blond rolled over, coughed up blood, and, with shaky legs, stood. He watched as the boy stumbled and tried to maintain his balance.

"Why are you going so far? You should run away! Why do you keep getting up!?"

* * *

"Why are you going so far? You should run away! Why do you keep getting up!?"

Those words echoed as if from a deep well, and Naruto shook his head. He couldn't concentrate, all he knew was that he had to get up, that he had to fight. Only as he struggled to his feet once more did he realized he had nothing left. Clenching his eyes, he concentrated, grasping for even a shred of his chakra.

He felt his body make contact with the roof yet again, but slowly he started trying to stand, digging deeper than he had ever dug before. Yet, he couldn't concentrate enough; the pain was almost too much, and he was distracted by a distant voice screaming one word as he was battered: 'Why?'

_"Because," Naruto said in annoyance, crossing his arms, "if you don't, then who will?"_

Naruto dug deeper.

**'Why?!'**

_"You know, I wonder if Anko will scream. No, I think she'll cry... Because I'll tell her you could have stopped me and didn't." _

_"You won't touch her!"_

Naruto coughed in a spray of blood, but dug even deeper, desperate.

**'Why!?' **

_"I'm tired of people telling me what I can't do! That I can't be a ninja! That I can't reach my dreams! I'm going to get to that damn application, I'm gonna sign it and I'm going to present it! And then I'm going keep kicking asses until that old man **HAS **to make me Hokage!"_

Naruto dug deep and grabbed something magnificent, something powerful.

**'WHY!?'**

Because he would be Hokage some day, he couldn't stop, would never stop fighting. He had to keep getting back up because he had to protect his village. _For my precious people_, Naruto's mind screamed in answer, _because I'm going to be Hokage. _To a Hokage, every _single_ person in the village was precious to him and he had to protect them.

He was not going to let Anko, the old man, Iruka, Ino, Shino, or anybody else down. He **would** protect them!

Naruto held what he had found tightly, and he could feel his power. A chakra equal to when he had fought the kumo-iki, equal to when he had fought Orochimaru, it was coursing through him. His body no longer hurt; the pain was fading, and the exhaustion.

Slowly, still unsure of himself, Naruto stumbled to his feet one more time and met those odd, lonely, golden eyes.

"WHY DO YOU GET UP!?" Gaara roared in a berserker rage.

"**Because I'm going to be Hokage!" **Naruto roared right back, charging as he formed his favorite seal. A second later, ten Naruto's filled the roof, attacking in unison. Gaara stumbled from the first onslaught, caught by surprise with the boy's new enthusiasm.

Naruto didn't let up: he kept hurling clones at the boy, then hastily wrapped a kunai with an explosive note as he charged along with several clones, roaring a distraction. "UZUMAKI NARUTO: KAGE BUNSHIN BODY SLAM!" Gaara rounded, lashing out with both arms, catching and crushing numerous clones, allowing Naruto to use others as a spring board to clear the boy and come down in a crouch behind his enemy.

Landing, the blond winced and then created another Kage Bunshin to throw him clear, as he left behind every explosive note he had left. There weren't many, but the amount should get some sort of response. Naruto hit the ground round, twisting his body around and rolling from the impact, as the first note went off, setting off a chain reaction that engulfed the hulking monster in an explosive cloud while destroying the few remaining clouds he had left.

As the smoke cleared, Naruto got to his feet, shaking his head to try and clear it. Turning his gaze toward his opponent, he felt his stomach drop. There was another massive hole in the roof and the monstrous form of his enemy was disfigured, but it was already reforming and seemed to be expanding. He needed more, that form was too powerful, but he wasn't sure any of his techniques would actually do any serious damage to that damn thing.

So the solution would be, Naruto realized with surprise, peeling Gaara out of it and if a single technique wouldn't do the job then; lifting his fingers, Naruto created a dozen Kage Bunshin. Without a word they charged the stunned enemy and took up the 'tora' seal. With a final surge of chakra, Naruto ran for all he was worth and then using the back of a Kage Bunshin jumped, forming his own 'tora' seal and a second later thirteen Futon: Daitoppa were unleashed on a single target simultaneously.

The blasts created a backlash that not only destroyed the Kage Bunshin along with their target apparently, but sent Naruto somersaulting out of control, as it tore gouges out of nearby buildings and collapse a good portion of the roof. Naruto hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, with enough force that he was stunned into immobility; but that didn't last long as the roof began to sack and a frantic Naruto desperately got to his feet. A loud and devastating crack shook the building, and a large portion of the roof in the far corner crumbled, followed by the space that Naruto had been standing on falling half a foot.

The blond was confused and terrified, but rallied enough to scramble back up, but the building was shifting again. With an ominous rumble, it tilted to the right viciously, nearly throwing Naruto off the roof. Kami, what had he ever done to deserve this?Then, with a thunderous crash, the building crumbled, and Naruto went tumbling end over end; only, the building hadn't crumbled... It had been blown apart.

His eyes saw a massive blue-veined arm, or at least a portion of it. It was so massive, and he was so close, that he had no scale for reference.

But he knew that this was Gaara unleashed and that he had no hope of stopping this thing. Naruto, however, had no use for despair and, creating even more Kage Bunshin, used them as stepping stones as he tried to climb skyward towards the head.

Maybe he could hurt it if he struck the eye. He had to try something!

Apparently Gaara noticed him, because suddenly Naruto was forced to perform a painful Shunshin to avoid a massive arm as it smashed through the space where he and his clone had been. Creating another Kage Bunshin, Naruto hurled himself toward the monster's face. His momentum allowed him to escape the arm, but he fell short of the head.

One last Kage Bunshin solved that, and now he was standing on the snout of the massive sand creature, panting and sweating. Eyes darting left and then right, he tried to find something to strike, or some way to hurt this monster. There was nothing else for it; he'd just have to run up there and cause as much havoc as he could.

"ORRAAAAAAA!" A blur of speed, Naruto darted forward, fighting for his balance, left arm swinging back to search his weapons pouch. An explosive note in the middle of the forehead might do it... And then he was jerked to a halt. Looking, down he swore, finding his ankles trapped in the surface of the monster.

Looking up once more, sensing more than knowing, he witnessed Gaara's upper torso sliding to the surface to face him. The red head hung forward limply, eyes rolled back into his head, and only the most ominous gaze on his face. "Thank you for keeping me entertained..."

Naruto struggled, knowing that he didn't have long before he was killed and this bastard was set free on the village.

"I'm not going to kill you. First, I'll let you watch. I'll destroy your existence here and then I'll kill you." Gaara intoned, his voice a mockery of humanity. "My existence will continue!"

Naruto knew the futility of it -the kami had never answered his prayers before- but this was not just for him. This was for his village, his precious people. Clasping hands together he concentrated every erg of himself into this, prayed for the chakra he needed to be there and then looked inside himself.

He found it. It was dark and tainted, but it was there, beneath his own chakra, flickering and waiting for him, and Naruto took it. He felt his skin burn, he felt the sand release him from the sudden burst of chakra. Without hesitation, he started forming seals, seals that he had never formed, had never thought he could use.

He only had one shot at this.

With a sudden movement, he was off, a Shunshin so fast that even a Sharingan would be unable to follow, a burst of power strong enough to shatter the remaining windows in the ruins.

One shot, that was all he had.

Naruto knew it instinctively, the way others knew how to breathe: this was his only chance to use the seal that perverted sage had taught him.

"Yaaah!" Naruto shouted, thrusting the activated Gogyou Fuin towards the surprised boy's stomach. The sand, which had been surprised into inactivity, burst forth, grasping his ankles desperately with bands and another band around his waist. For one horrible moment, Naruto thought he had failed, that he had been to late. Then, there was a small flash of light as his outstretched, blue and red glowing-fingers connected with Gaara's stomach.

Those insane eyes stared at him in disbelief, then looked around as if unable to believe what was happening.

It took Naruto a moment to realize the truth, but the monstrous form that Gaara had created out of the sand was crumbling. Cracks were spreading like wild fire and then, suddenly, it was gone. All that existed was air, loose sand, and two boys falling to the ground.

Naruto hit the ground like a ton of bricks. It felt as if every bone in his body had been broken. He could hear people moving in, but he knew he couldn't stop yet. He had to make sure Gaara was down, that he couldn't hurt anyone else. Pushing himself to his hands and knees despite the blinding pain in his ribs, arms, and legs, he paused, desperately breathing through his pain.

"Not yet...gotta get up..." With one massive heave, Naruto forced himself upright, stumbling from the momentum, but managed to keep his balance. Wrapping one arm protectively around his torso, his vision red and swimming, he stared at the prone form of Gaara.

He couldn't tell if the boy was dead or just unconscious, but he had to do something. It took all of his willpower, but the blond managed to put one foot in front of the other. It was so hard, but he struggled his way toward the boy before he toppled forward.

Thankfully, he didn't hit the ground. Instead, he was caught and eased onto his back.

"You can stop now. You won," Anko said firmly, but with a definite hint of pride.

"I won?" Naruto asked, staring at Anko.

"Yeah." Anko flashed him a grin. "You kicked his ass."

"I always do, psycho." Naruto managed and then happily let his exhaustion take him.

* * *

_Legends don't die, they just fade away. _

It was a widely held belief among the villagers in every country, from Kaminari no Kuni to Kaze no Kuni. Taken as a gospel truth by all, save for the Shinobi. Shinobi knew the truth, that legends did die, painfully and usually alone, but always as a Legend. No where was this knowledge more prevalent than among Konoha Shinobi.

They had produced a great many Legends, including what they and many other countries -however grudgingly- considered the greatest Legend, The Yondaime Hokage. A Hero, a Legend; strength and power unmatched. Supreme in the last great Shinobi war and the final victim of the Kyūbi no Yōakai.

They had been witness to the Legend's triumph and his crushing death.

So, Konoha Shinobi knew, better than anyone, that Legends did die, died painfully and alone. That was why, in all of the Shinobi Villages, Konoha was considered unique. They knew the true fate of Legends, and they would still watch.

Would still cheer...

As Konoha brought order to the chaos in the Chūnin arena and the surrounding area, as heroes stood tall and proud there was a roar that pierced the air, and all eyes turned to the sight of yet ANOTHER demon destroying their village. Fear had gripped the hearts of many. Panic and terror. Old, forgotten memory-wounds, from the Kyūbi's attack were ripped open as they beheld the monstrosity.

Who did they have to stand against it? The ANBU were exhausted, fighting against a rebellious faction of their own organization. The Military Police were stretched thin. The forces on the walls were too far away to stop it, if they even could. The Hokage, rumor whispered, was critically ill.

It was then that everything was eclipsed.

Nobody knew who it was, not at that moment, but they saw what appeared to be a blond boy fighting against that thing, and everyone stopped breathing to watch. Was it a savior, or just a preview of their own inevitable deaths? Cries rang out as the boy was bashed and battered, and yet he kept coming back. He was not stopping, and when, with a flash of light, the boy finally struck, and the monster began to crumble...

...They _knew_, and they cheered!

For the younger Shinobi, who did not understand the truth about Legends, there was nothing sad. They celebrated in their innocence. Villagers cheered happily, calling out to the nameless savior. It was the Elder Shinobi, the Daimyo's, the villagers who had been samurai or had been around long enough, that offered the most respectful forms of praise.

Each offered a wan, sad, knowing smile. A new Legend was coming. They would watch, of course, but for them any joy they found in this would always be bittersweet.

Still, this was the moment it all started, the beginning ascension of the brightest star of the current generation. Uchiha, Hyūga, ANBU, Military Police, all others were forgotten. All that mattered was this moment, when a boy defined his beginning as a Legend.

The battle would be whispered through out the world, it would be embellished as time went on, and things would be forgotten, but a Legend would still be defined. Most importantly, however, Konoha would begin to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, they were witnessing the creation of their next Hokage.

The moment Uzumaki Naruto defined himself, he set himself on the bitterly painful path that all Legends followed.


	22. Chapter 21: Kyūbi no Yoko Revealed

**Naruto**: Altered History  
Chapter 21:  
-_Kyūbi no Yoko Revealed_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Naruto returned to the land of the living with a small groan of pain. His entire body felt like it was raw meat. Eyes opening to thin slits, he stared up at the ceiling, wondering briefly, where the hell he was. He couldn't even remember anything before waking up; his last memory was about hitting that bastard Sasuke...

...and then it all came rushing back.

Unity attacking, that Gaara, fighting and fighting, desperately trying to save the village. Then, suddenly, he sat bolt upright despite his body's protests. Whatever concern he felt was off set by pain that caused him to jerk and fall back onto the bed. Breathing through his teeth, he winced, trying to force his way through the pain. Kami, why did it hurt so much?

After what felt like an eternity, the pain receded and he took careful stock of his room. It was sterile white, like a million other hospital rooms, lacking pictures and a TV. In general, it lacked every object that would grant visitors or patients some comfort.

If he was alive and in a hospital, then Konoha had to be safe, right? He had to have won; he could not have survived if he had failed. While struggling upright once more, he froze as the door opened, allowing the light from the hallway to spill into the room and reveal a woman dressed in white with the familiar Leaf symbol on her hat.

The woman froze, eyes wide, clutching the doorknob tightly. Recovering, she entered the room, letting the door swing shut as she approached his bed. "How do you feel?"

"Er…fine," Naruto said, surprised at how weak his voice sounded. Taking a moment to perform a silent check of his body, he frowned, realizing just how much he hurt.

"Well, that's good... Kiyoshi-sama has you on some powerful pain-killers-"

"What's wrong with me?" Naruto demanded, twisting for a glass of water, only to wince.

"Multiple fractures, at least three shattered bones, mild trauma to the spine and bruising of internal organs. Inflammation, fluid in the lungs, broken ribs, and..." the nurse paused, checking his chart, "semi-collapsed chakra pathways and that's after you've been in intensive care for a week."

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted in disbelief.

"The good news is," the nurse continued, setting the chart aside as she moved around his bed, "Kiyoshi-sama said that you would heal faster once your pathways recovered and your bloodline kicked in."

"But I can't just-" Naruto started to protest, until the nurse cut him off.

"Please stay still while I check you over," she said, forming unfamiliar seals that caused her hands to begin to glow softly with chakra. Naruto felt a warmth spread through him as those glowing hands passed over him, the chakra remaining a constant blue.

"Well, your pathways are back to normal, it seems-" the nurse paused, her eyes widening slightly, before she allowed the jutsu to fade. She stared at his arm for a moment, and then glanced at his face in surprise. "You're...You're regenerating..."

"Oh," Naruto muttered with a snort. "So, can I go?"

"No," the nurse said curtly, despite her surprise. "You've suffered severe trauma to your body; you need to give yourself time to recover. Even if you regenerate everything now, you have to give your body a chance to rest. Straining it could hurt you even more severely."

Naruto sighed, flopping his head against the pillow. Great, he was trapped here for a while, or at least until the nurse left him alone, Naruto did not like it here. It was too much like being cornered, and his survival instincts told him that was a bad thing.

Shaking it off while watching her scribble on his chart, he sighed, wondering about his friends and Anko. "Uhmm, do you know if Ino or Anko or anyone got hurt?"

"Don't worry about that," the nurse said seriously, reaching out to pat his shoulder as she checked a machine. "You've done more than enough for us; let others worry about the village and wounded for now."

"But-"

"No buts."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Naruto shouted, blinking rapidly. He was about to force the nurse to tell him what he wanted to know when the door opened, and one large, wildly dressed, old man entered with a yellow frog riding his shoulder. Naruto jerked slightly, as did the nurse, then the future Hokage grinned slightly, realizing who it was.

"It means," Jiraiya said, crossing to the foot of the bed, while giving the nurse a charming smile, "that Kakashi doesn't want you concentrating on anything else other than recovering."

"But-"

"Anko's fine," Jiraiya said abruptly, ignoring the nurse's glare. "Actually, the heaviest casualties were in ANBU and the Military Police."

"Excuse me," the nurse said, "but Kakashi-sama has issued strict orders not to reveal-"

"I know," Jiraiya said with a shrug. "But he deserves to know this stuff; he did save the village, after all."

Naruto blinked, and then wondered what that was about. The nurse didn't seem happy, but she did finish quietly before walking out of the room. Reaching up to scratch the back of his head, Naruto turned his attention back to the man and the chubby yellow toad perched on his shoulder.

"Oi, what's that frog-"

"He's a toad," Jiraiya corrected absently as he sat down in a chair near the bed. "His name is Gamatatsu."

"Hiya!" the toad said happily, jumping toward the bed and smacking the side. A second later, he managed to struggle his way up to the boy's lap. "Got sweets?"

Naruto blinked, and then looked at Jiraiya, who looked annoyed. Looking back at the yellow toad, the ninja wondered what in the hell was going on.

"He's a bit strange," Jiraiya admitted. "However, he's good for spying. Sorta, in the right situation... As long as you can give him sweets."

"Ooookay," Naruto said, staring at the frog, who just stared right back. "So why is he here?"

"Because he's been checking on a few things," Jiraiya said cryptically. "Anyway, I think you'd be more interested in having some questions answered."

Naruto scowled, knowing the man was keeping something hidden, but he couldn't even begin to guess what it was. "Anko?"

"Like I said, she's fine," Jiraiya said with a sigh. "She's been coming by every day for the last week or so, checkin' up on you. However, she's out on a mission right now. Just a quick check up on a few important details."

Naruto breathed easier at that; at least she was safe. He'd never admit it, but she was like a sister. Or, at least, how he always pictured a sister being. Putting thoughts of her aside, he turned back to finding out about others. "Ino-chan? Shino? What about Panda Girl?"

"Far as I know they're all relatively okay," Jiraiya said. "Ino's been asking about you, seeing as you're not allowed visitors below Jōnin. High security ICU and all..."

"Huh? High Security?" Naruto repeated blankly. What did that mean?

"Well, you did save the village," Jiraiya smirked. "That entitles you to the same security measures as the Hokage, who, of course, is just down the hall."

"Oh," Naruto repeated before staring at Jiraiya in shock. "The Old Goat's... Is-is he okay?"

"No," Jiraiya said, his good mood fading. "He's far from okay, Naruto. He's old and he pushed himself too far saving villagers before he collapsed."

"Oh." Naruto looked down, his eyes stinging slightly. He fought the tears back, shoved his sadness down and then sighed.

"Which actually explains why I'm here," Jiraiya said after a moment. "As bad of shape as he is in, Saturobi-sensei can still pull through. He, well, he couldn't be Hokage anymore, but he could still live, serve as an advisor or whatever. We just have to find Tsunade, who is a legendary medic."

"...then why aren't you out there?" Naruto asked in confusion. If Anko's or another precious person's life depended on some legendary medic, he'd sure as hell not be waiting around.

"Because, she's a Sannin and none of us have ever wanted to be found, least of all by each other," Jiraiya said, his tone darkening. "We've all been in hiding for a long time, and we are all very good at it."

"But they found you!"

"First, I'm the only one that's even maintained any sort of contact with the village," Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes. "Second, I let them find me. Trust me, if I wanted to disappear, not even the kami could find me."

Naruto snorted, not quite believing it, but accepting that it was a possibility. After all, this same man had trained the Yondaime and himself. So, the man _might_ actually be able to disappear completely. Sighing, the blond looked out his window, wondering what else to ask. After all, he knew all he wanted to know; what else was there really?

"So, tell me about your fight against Gaara," Jiraiya said.

Looking back at the old man, he frowned. Why the hell did he want to hear about that? Not that Naruto wasn't going to tell him. Seeing the man's unreadable look, Naruto launched into his story, with the yellow frog squeaking in fright and his own yelps as he tried to energetically act out certain parts.

"So," Jiraiya said after the boy had finished, scratching his cheek. "This extra chakra you used for the Gogyo Fuin, did it feel, different?"

"No," Naruto said before frowning. "Well, I guess maybe..."

"Can you describe it?" Jiraiya asked, looking suspicious.

"Iunno," Naruto shrugged, fighting to keep the wince off his face. Actually, now that he stopped to think about it, most of his bones were starting to itch. Maybe he was healing faster than the nurse had thought?

"Think in terms of color if you need to."

"Well," Naruto said, pulling himself away from his realization of healing. "I guess... It was red?"

"I see," Jiraiya said nodding, before grinning. "Anyway, I suppose I should tell you the reason why I'm here talking to you."

"Huh? But what about the chak-"

"Later," Jiraiya said cutting him off. "When Anko gets back."

"Well, when is she suppose to be back!?" Naruto demanded, glaring at the older man.

"Sometime tomorrow," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "Now, you wanna hear why I'm here talking to you instead of completing some very important data gathering?"

"Probably 'cause there's no girls to peek on," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and feeling a sharp pain in his shoulders.

"...Actually, I'm here because I've asked Anko if I could give you some more training," Jiraiya said, rolling his eyes.

"Wha?" Naruto managed, going slack-jawed.

"It's a special technique, and, since I'm waiting for info on Tsunade's location, I figure I might as well get you started on it," Jiraiya explained. "It took the Yondaime three years to create and master, plus you might find it useful."

"So what is it?"

"It's called the Rasengan, and it's A-rank. The rest can wait till after you're discharged," Jiraiya said, standing up to retrieve the yellow frog that had moved to a small table besides Naruto's bed.

Naruto blinked, just now noticing it covered with chocolates, cards, and few flowers. "Who are all those from?"

"Get well presents from some of your admirers in the village," said Jiraiya happily. "Everybody has been rather worried about you; I hear Kakashi's been forced to give daily updates to the Council."

"The pile was getting really high," Gamatatsu said. "So I had to eat some of the chocolate to stop it from falling over."

"What about the flowers?"

"Ah, that Yamanaka girl I believe. She's been rather persistent in sending them..."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking at the man curiously. "Do you think you could convince them to let her visit? I guess Shino, too."

"I'll see what I can do," Jiraiya said, smirking. "Now, you wanna know anything else, besides that chakra bit, before I go?"

Naruto sighed, shaking his head before pausing. "Yeah, the Shunshin..."

"What about it?"

"I used it during the exam, but when I was fighting Gaara it started hurting."

"Ah, there's a simple reason for that."

"There is?"

"Yeah. The Shunshin is a double-edged sword remember? It might be D-ranked, but it's actually a very handy trick; it lets you move faster than most ninja can follow."

"Right," Naruto said slowly, eyes widening "but it...uses up a lot of chakra right?"

"Exactly."

"But, but, how much chakra can it really use?"

"Hmm, well I never did explain that exact details on that part, did I?" Jiraiya mused while rubbing his chin. "Okay, think about it like this. You have a hundred ryou and are in a dark room, so you decide to turn on the light. Now, making the decision costs you ten ryou, while actually turning it on cost you an extra twenty."

"So you use thirty ryou."

"Exactly. Now, then, let's say you pay the thirty ryou and then decide you don't want to turn it on. Which means you've not only lost thirty ryou you can't get back, but are now trapped in the dark," Jiraiya said.

"So, the Shunshin uses...thirty percent of my chakra?"

"Actually, about fifteen or twenty," Jiraiya mused rubbing his chin. "I didn't exactly give an accurate example did I; important thing is that most ninja that can afford to spend the chakra can only perform Shunshin a couple times on any given day."

"But I used it more than that!"

"Oh, I know," Jiraiya said nodding. "Those are just average ninja. Some ninja, like you and Kakashi, have large enough chakra capacities and can use it a lot more than others can. The Yondaime had a large enough supply that he could literally go an entire month using it every time he had to take more than three steps. But the larger your chakra, the more you use it, and the faster you run through your chakra supply."

"Oh," Naruto said, staring at his hands silently. Sighing, he looked back up at the man. "So basically, it chews up a lot of chakra really fast."

"Yes, now get some rest, you earned it."

Naruto watched the old ninja leave and then scowled, flopping his head back into the pillow behind him. Staring up at the off-white ceiling, he wondered what exactly was going on, because you didn't need to be a genius to know that Jiraiya was hiding something. Sighing, Naruto rolled over and let his eyes rest on the flowers and cards, a small smile tugging at his mouth.

It was nice to be appreciated.

* * *

Ino sighed, looking up at the door, then, grumbling, she propped her chin on her hand and turned her attention back to the scroll currently opened before her on the counter. Beside her, within easy reach, were her notes from the academy. Since she no longer had a sword -nor would she be able to afford one anytime soon- and her arm was in a cast, Ino had started to study.

So, she had gathered her notes from her academy days -mostly empty pages with comments on Sasuke, which she winced upon seeing- and scrounged through her family's scrolls to collect the one discussing Clan specific techniques. After that, she had promptly reported for her afternoon shift in the flower shop and began studying.

"Rank-C, close and mid-range," Ino muttered scanning the words listlessly. "Supplementary, Shintenshin no Jutsu, yadda, yadda, yadda..." She already knew this one by heart. Still, knowing it and doing it properly were two different things.

So, she suffered through the torture of re-reading the explanation, then, with a sigh, went on to the next one.

"Rank-B, close and mid-range, Supplementary," Ino read aloud, sighing. "Shinranshin no Jutsu, used to confuse the target into attacking nearby allies... Which I can't use until I freakin' master the Shintenshin and am, thus, a pathetic Yamanaka."

Sourly, she skipped further down the scroll, noting, curiously as always, the brief reference to a Mokuton no Jutsu. There were no details, just a name. She had asked her dad once about it, but he had said that it was a lost technique from her mother's side of the family.

Still, Ino wondered, toying once more with the idea that they were something extremely powerful. Sighing, she put daydreams aside and turned back to the last entry, chewing on her pen absently.

"Rank-A, long and mid-range, Supplementary," Ino breathed, already feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Shuushuku Kitei no Jutsu, a complex genjutsu. It is both an audio and visual genjutsu, which causes the target to believe that the user is not moving until the point of contact, when the user appears to cover the distance between them in the blink of an eye, creating the illusion that the user is moving at speeds exceeding Shunshin no Jutsu."

Ino studied the details, wrote them down, and then sighed. It would be a while before she could hope to accomplish that technique. If she could, it would be the coup de grace for her kenjutsu style. Finished with her notes, she awkwardly resealed the scroll with her one good hand and turned to refreshing her memory on the chakra and stamina building exercises from the academy.

Finishing with her refresher, Ino glanced at the clock, and then decided it was time to make Naruto's flower arrangement, as had become her routine. Halfway through, she was disturbed by the bell ringing, and she looked up with a sigh. "Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers."

"Hey," Sakura said in return, sounding slightly subdued.

Ino snorted and turned back to her flower arranging. The girl had stopped by a couple of times during the last week, the first time to apologize for cheering Sasuke and taunting her. The second time, she had actually brought a sword as a peace offering from Sasuke -it had pained Ino to reject it- but she wanted nothing from him.

"So," Sakura said, strolling through the shop before stopping next to the counter. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Ino said, not looking up from her task, quickly becoming aware of how awkward flower arranging was with one hand.

"Well, Sasuke-kun over heard it from his father; apparently, we're getting a new Hokage." Sakura said her voice almost hesitant. "One of the Sannin."

Ino paused, glancing up at her former friend and rival. That was big news, so the question was why did Sakura want to tell her this? Not just to brag about knowing: Sakura always knew in advance, so it wouldn't be impressive, which meant there was something else to it. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because he's been visiting Naruto," Sakura said, meeting her gaze intently. "According to what Sasuke-kun's dad has said, the new Hokage trained him for the Chūnin finals."

Ino blinked, flabbergasted. Naruto had never mentioned that the new Hokage had trained him. Which meant either that he hadn't known -unlikely considering his obsession- or that he had been ordered not to tell anyone. Naruto was not a fan of authority figures from what she could tell, but if the Hokage ordered him and Ino could easily see Naruto doing as he was told.

"I also heard something else," Sakura said carefully, glancing around. "Something that's upset a lot of the Bloodline Clans, especially the Uchiha."

"Before you tell me that," Ino said, just as carefully meeting the girl's gaze, "why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because," Sakura said, glancing down. "Look, I-I love Sasuke-kun, okay? I mean I love him, and with my dad being how he is and mom turning a blind eye to..." she trailed off before glancing up. "I, Ino, I blind myself a lot where Sasuke-kun is concerned, I know I do, but you were the first person to help me, to, be nice. My first friend. I ruined that over him, and I am sorry. It was just, with the other girls already... And then you, my best friend, you were always so- and I had to, I couldn't-"

Ino frowned. Sakura's father had always seemed nice to her, but, then again, Ino could remember Sakura's mom having bruises on a regular basis, and Ino had her suspicions. Confirmed it appeared, if she read between the lines of what Sakura had just said. So Ino supposed it wasn't unusual that Sakura would get so obsessed over Sasuke.

He was like a prince, someone who would protect her, and nobody would mess with an Uchiha's girlfriend. Not that it hadn't hurt, and badly, to have her best friend turn on her like that, but, Ino could understand, and maybe it was time to just grow up and forgive the other girl. "I understand. It hurt... And I won't forgive him for what he said, but... I understand, Sakura."

"Thank you," Sakura said, looking away quickly to stare at a few flowers. "Uhmm, isn't that arrangement wrong?"

"Huh?" Ino blinked, then, glanced at the arrangement in question, smirked. "Good eye; guess you haven't forgotten everything, huh? It's for Naruto-kun. They still won't let anyone below Jōnin in to see him, but they let me send flowers."

"Aha," Sakura said a sly smirk on her face as she glanced back at Ino. "So, how is Naruto-_kun_ doing? Surely you've heard something?"

"...Watch it, forehead," Ino growled back, shooting the girl a warning look.

Sakura grinned in turn. "Sure, Piggy, sure. Just remember, there are a lot of girls interested in him now that he's helped save the village."

"Goody for them," Ino snapped foully.

"Anyway," Sakura said shifting topics. "That news I was going to tell you, the one that's got the Bloodline Clans in an uproar? Apparently it's over a new bloodline that's been discovered, belonging to one Uzumaki Naruto."

"Naru... A bloodline?" Ino repeated in surprise.

"So I've heard," Sakura said with a nod. "The Bloodline Clans are upset because the Hokage's office and Kakashi-sama have refused to let them in to speak with the boy. Sasuke-kun explained that each Clan wants it mixed into their own, since it would make them that much more powerful."

"Whoa," Ino said blinking. "What sort of bloodline is it?"

"I don't know," Sakura admitted with a scowl. "Sasuke-kun stopped after telling me, but that was due mostly to his brother, Itachi-san, showing up."

"That's major," Ino breathed, sitting down heavily on the stool behind the counter. She stared off into the distance, not really seeing anything. Being trained by a Hokage, she could accept not being told, but this... Naruto had a bloodline?

That wasn't something you kept quiet! That was something you shared with your team, no matter what.

"I know," Sakura said, leaning against the counter and glancing curiously at her notes. "Oh, did you hear that Kiba asked Hinata out? She sorta froze up and then admitted that she was actually already dating Choji. Kiba's been hitting his head for the last week over that..."

"Mhm," Ino managed vaguely, trying to wrap her mind around what she had learned. Why hadn't Naruto told them? Told her? Maybe, well... Sakura did say it was only recently discovered, and Naruto was an orphan. It was possible that the boy had only recently found out...

"Huh, you know, this could actually be expanded to blanket a whole area," Sakura said after a moment. Picking up the discarded pen, Sakura scribbled a few changes.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Ino asked dazedly looking at the other girl.

"This genjutsu, the Shuushuku. It can be made to blanket a whole area in that effect," Sakura explained without looking up. "Too bad it only works for a Yamanaka."

"Wait a minute," Ino managed, snapping out of her stupor to stare at the other girl. "How do you know it can be changed like that?"

"I'm specializing in genjutsu," Sakura said, blinking as she finally looked up. "Though Kurenai-sensei's started me a bit on medical jutsu, too. Which reminds me, I have to get to the library and check out those medical scrolls." Setting the pen down, she pushed off the counter and headed for the door.

"W-waitaminute!" Ino said eyes wide as she was reminded that Sakura's forehead wasn't just for show. The pink- haired girl read a lot and had a good memory, too. Seeing Sakura's interest, Ino shifted nervously before asking her question. "Uh, Sakura have you ever heard of Mokuton Jutsu?"

"Mokuton?" Sakura repeated thoughtfully before nodding. "Yeah, it was a unique brand of jutsu belonging to the Shodai Hokage. Apparently nobody else has ever been able to use it; it's even rumored to be bloodline ability."

Ino felt her eyes widen, her mind flashing back to her family's scroll. "T-thanks Sakura. Uh, just where'd you read that?"

"_Biographies of the Hokage's_ by Kagehinata Kishimoto," Sakura said, walking out the door. "Ask Naruto for it; he was the last one to check it out."

Ino stood there, unable to process everything that she had learned. Secret Bloodlines, new possibilities of being related to a Hokage, her former and current friend being a genjutsu expert while learning medical jutsu and being in _love_ with a complete bastard.

It was just...Too much.

She could manage to say one word. "Kami."

* * *

Naruto stirred, rolling over toward his dripping IV, bleary eyes staring at a dark wall. Blinking several times, he sighed before sitting up and looking at the door. He'd slept most of the day, waking up every so often when a nurse came in to check up on him before removing some bandage or needle that he didn't need.

He'd by fine by tomorrow, or at least he thought so. Getting out of bed, Naruto had a moment of triumph and then, all too soon, his legs went rigid in pain. With a curse and cry of pain, he collapsed back onto the bed, breathing heavily. Okay, so he'd have to take things slowly.

Forcing his way through the pain, he sat up once more, then carefully climbed to his feet, mastering himself. Now that he was up and moving, albeit slowly, he was realizing just how sore he really was. He honestly felt like he'd had a house dropped on him.

Well, he probably wouldn't be doing any training tonight, damn it, but he could probably do with a quick walk. Just to stretch his muscles. That first step was almost impossible due to his knee sending a shooting pain through him.

The second was just as bad, but after those his legs seemed to work through the pain. Opening the door, he shook his head to fan his hair, then slipped out of the room. Pausing, he looked around the hallway, which was dark and deserted save for an ANBU outside his room and another room further along the hall.

Other than that, there was the nurses' station (empty except for yet another ANBU) at the other end of the hallway. Naruto also became aware that all three ninja focused on him the moment he appeared, he had trained with Anko, after all.

He had originally planned on slipping out of the hospital for his walk, but somehow he doubted he'd make it very far if he tried that. Actually, Naruto doubted he'd be able even to go towards the nurse's station at the moment, which meant glancing at the other ANBU-guarded room, he hesitated. He knew who was in there; Ero-Sennin had told him.

That was the Sandaime's room.

Sucking it up, Naruto turned and headed for the door, aware of the ninja watching him intently. Would they grab him? Well, it would only be natural, he supposed. The ANBU didn't even seem to move as he approached, didn't flinch as Naruto passed within arms reach and reached for the handle.

The boy hesitated, uncertain of whether he should enter or not. Not because of the ANBU, but because he had this horrible image of the Sandaime, and he wasn't sure he wanted see it. His last real memory of the old man had been him smiling from behind his desk. Still, Naruto was a curious person by nature, and he couldn't help himself.

Opening the door, he gulped, stepping into the room quietly. It was dark: the only source of light the eerie glow of a night light. Naruto, however, had fixed his gaze on the bed, where the Sandaime was lying.

He could just make out various tubes and wires. It would look horrible with the lights on, that much was obvious. Shuffling forward, he gulped, wanting to leave. Still, he approached the bed in silence, coming a stop just short of the end, staring at the still figure it contained.

It was dark, of course, and the light was eerie, but Naruto still decided the old man wasn't suppose to look so... frail. This was the Hokage, strongest ninja in the village. He shouldn't look like this.

It wasn't right. It was horribly wrong. Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes, trying to hide his tears. Sighing, he edged closer, staring at the old man sadly, reaching out to touch his hand.

It was cold, clammy. It felt like death. Naruto shivered and pulled his hand away out of instinct. Mastering himself, the boy moved closer to the bed yet again and stared at the old man. "You... You shouldn't be laying there... You're the Hokage..."

"But still, he's only human," a new voice said, startling Naruto.

Jerking, the blond spun, ready for anything, but froze, finding himself staring at the silver-haired ANBU Commander. "Masked Pervert?"

"...I really wish you'd stop calling me that," Kakashi sighed, hands in his pockets. "Come on, let's go back to your room before Kiyoshi-san comes down here and shouts at us."

"Aright," Naruto said shuffling toward the door.

"Wait," Freezing, Naruto blinked, glanced at a startled-looking Kakashi, and then turned back to the bed, surprised to see the Sandaime staring at him. The Hokage weakly motioned for the boy to come back, and, gulping, Naruto did just that. Stopping near the bed, he shuffled his feet, trying not to stare at the tubes in his nose.

"Naruto," the Sandaime said, staring up at him. "You have to understand, nobody can choose how or when they die. Only how they meet death, and, most importantly, if they can keep their precious people safe just a little longer by dying."

"But," Naruto said, then looked away.

"Naruto, deciding how to face death is the true strength of a Shinobi," Sandaime said, softly, before taking a deep, rattling breath. "Now, you should head back to bed. Kakashi stay for a minute, okay?"

"Hai," the ANBU Commander said, patting Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto felt his shoulder slump slightly, knowing that the Hokage had told him something important. But the old man was talking as if he was beaten. Then again, seeing him in that state, Naruto had to agree that he did appear beaten. Shaking his head, the blond shuffled toward the door once more, vaguely thinking of going back to bed. He stopped, however, as he heard the Hokage croak his name yet again.

"Yeah?"

For a moment, there was nothing but the rasping breath and then the Hokage spoke. "Naruto... I'm very proud of the man you're becoming... and..." the Hokage paused, a shuddering gasp filling the moment. "I can't wait... to see what kind of Hokage you'll be..."

Naruto stood there, as if transfixed. He was being acknowledged as a future Hokage, and, not only that, it was the Hokage acknowledging him. Naruto wasn't sure why, but he felt ten inches taller and just that much closer to his dream.

He'd show the old man: Naruto was going to be the greatest Hokage ever.

He promised.

* * *

Entering the darkened office of the Hokage, Kakashi paused, remembering the countless times he had found both the Yondaime and the Sandaime sitting in the darkened space. In a way, they had both explained, the darkness was comforting. The masked man conceded that they had a point, but he still turned on the light as he crossed the room.

Pausing at the desk, he stared at the paperwork, then turned his gaze to the chair. Somehow, it felt so wrong to be in this room, to be taking up this responsibility. He had never wanted to be in this position, but the Sandaime had feared that Tsunade would refuse the job and had decided to act in the interest of the village while he could.

Easing himself into the chair, uncomfortably aware of the hat that was resting on the desk, Kakashi sighed, closing his eye. How had it come to this? How could he be the Godaime Hokage, even though it was unofficial until after Tsunade officially rejected the offer? Shaking his head tiredly, he opened his eye once more and carefully set the hat aside. He couldn't bring himself to even try it on; he was just a place holder.

Even when it became official and he was the Godaime, he'd be nothing to remember.

Just a mediocre Hokage stuck between those who had come before him and the one who would follow. Still, for the moment, Kakashi was Hokage, and he had a responsibility to the village. Tenzōu had assured him that repairs, interrogations, and other items regulated to ANBU were in good hands.

Kakashi didn't doubt that, but Tenzōu was a bit young for such responsibility. Not that there had been much choice. Kakashi had to have someone he could trust fill in for him as commander. Sighing, he turned his mind to other matters, matters that were now his responsibility to tend to.

Take, for example, the fact that the Kusa Daimyo had been assassinated by Rain ninja during the whole Unity fiasco. Then, there was the fact that they were now down several experienced ANBU and Military Police Officers. Oh, and he couldn't forget that little matters of Suna's silence concerning Gaara, the leaking of Naruto's bloodline, and the assassination attempts on the Hokage and Naruto.

Plus, the final approval for the results of the Chūnin Exam. How had he ever gotten himself into this mess?

Sighing, Kakashi decided he would do the only thing he could at the moment: the Chūnin exam results. All the votes were in and tallied. All that remained was for Kakashi to apply the Hokage seal on each sheet to confirm the promotions or the failures.

Selecting the folder that was resting almost forlornly on the edge of the desk, Kakashi rubbed at his eye. Opening the folder, he wondered briefly if there would be a sheet for Gaara, but somehow Kakashi doubted it. Flicking through the pages, he pulled the profiles of the Sand Genin to the top, mildly surprised that only one, out of the two pages he found, marked for promotion.

He briefly scanned the sheet before glancing at the attached picture. Ah, her. Yeah, she was ready for promotion. Applying the Hokage's hanko on the page for Temari's promotion, he confirmed her as the first new Chūnin.

Confirming the other Sand nin's failure, Kakashi moved on to the Konoha ninja and winced, wondering why the kami wanted to torture him. Team Gai, right off the bat, and, as if that wasn't bad enough -for failing any of them would result in a visit from Gai- the very first failure was Rock Lee. Gai's protégé.

Kakashi felt safe in assuming he'd pissed off some deity somewhere, some how.

Still, the votes were tallied but Gai was going to hound him to death because of this. Feeling a chill run down his spine, he sighed and confirmed it. Thankfully, the other two had been promoted, which was good since Kakashi wanted to avoid use of the Initial Lotus as much as possible.

Convinced it couldn't be any worse, Kakashi moved on to the next team and felt like crying. Team Kurenai, and nary a promotion listed. Kami, not a SINGLE promotion?! Sakura, at least, should have been promoted. She had shown just enough ability for the rank.

"What were they thinking?" Kakashi mumbled in disbelief, but knowing full well that it was most likely due to the new stigma of being associated with Uchiha Sasuke. He hated that the other two would suffer for Sasuke's arrogance, but Kakashi couldn't do anything about it. Still, he did take some comfort in this turn of events concerning Sasuke's failure.

Personal feelings aside, and there were several personal feelings, Kakashi was aware of the reason for his failure. Despite showing good judgment by offering Ino the chance to forfeit several times, Sasuke lacked a very important quality for a Chūnin. If promoted, he would be expected to lead a team, but his sheer arrogance and ability to alienate so many people made him unable to perform that task.

Plus, he had shown his willingness to steal from fellow Konoha ninja -something Kakashi tried to avoid himself-. That was not a quality that instilled trust. So, Uchiha or not, he deserved to fail. Still, as he confirmed the results, he wondered why it had to be Yūhi Kurenai's team.

Yūhi Kurenai was, perhaps, the most self-righteous, sanctimonious sensei he had ever met. Of course, her heart was in the right place, but she had driven the Hokage insane harping about Anko and her training. Now that he had failed her _entire_ team, he was sure she would be at his throat for the next six months.

Which left Team Anko, and Kakashi sighed, aware that he could be risking the anger of the single most dangerous sensei of the lot. Well, Kakashi mused silently, as long as Naruto hadn't failed, he doubted Anko would feel a need to gut him.

Ino failed, but Kakashi made a mental note to keep an eye on her, maybe point her out to Tenzō later. The skill she had displayed was impressive after all, if her opponent had been anyone else she would have probably passed. Shino was promoted, no surprise there, and Kakashi made another mental note to point him out to Danzo.

That left Uzumaki Naruto and, in all honesty, it hadn't been a hard decision.

First Naruto had displayed a sound strategy to stick to taijutsu and Shunshin so that he kept from revealing to many techniques. Then there was the tactic of using his Kage Bunshin to distract, combined with a few under Mesgai to create an explosive trap unnoticed so that Lee was forced into a position for the Kanashibari.

Second Naruto had battled Sasuke and while it had been cut short, had proven he was at least equal to the other boy and probably superior if the match had been allowed to continue uninterrupted. Naruto had even displayed an inventive tactic for using the Shunshin against a Uchiha, which was normally considered pointless.

Plus, though it wasn't technically part of the exam, Naruto had led a team and displayed an ability to lead well. So Kakashi happily applied the Hokage seal and promoted Uzumaki Naruto to Chūnin.

"Now I don't have to worry about her killing me in my sleep." Kakashi chuckled, relieved.

* * *

Shino was a morning person. Really, he was an any-time-of-day person. With a colony of insects inside him, the boy had an irregular sleep pattern. So, when Anko had ordered them to train every morning, it hadn't bothered him.

Ino, on the other hand, was less than thrilled with that concept. Which, of course, was understandable: Ino was not a morning person at all, as anyone who had spent any time with her knew. Which probably explained why Anko had chosen morning as their training time, still, Ino was there and dutifully throwing her kunai at the selected target, while Shino was constantly creating his Kikaichuu Bunshin and sparring.

He was discovering that the more often he performed the move, the faster it became and the better his family responded to Kekio-chan's directions. Complementing her -since she expected it from him, much like Ino was beginning to expect it from Naruto- he began a brief sparring match.

Ducking a left hook, Shino moved back while willing his family to form a wall to absorb the blow. The clone slammed into it, but managed to retreat before the wall could entrap it. Which was fine, since Shino had already laid a trap by disguising even more of his family as a stretch of grass.

The clone just barely managed to avoid that as well, rebounding off a tree, sending a crashing wall of bugs at him. Shino countered with his own wall, yet again, then weaved his way backward, thinking about his next move. He was so caught up in this that he was caught flat footed by a small concentration of bugs that slammed into him like a brick. Stumbling from the blow, he was caught off guard once more by a left-right combination to the stomach and face.

Tumbling backward, Shino rolled forcing his way through the pain and regaining his knee's with enough time to catch the clone's arm. A second later, Shino concentrated and, forming a spear of bugs, slammed it up and through his clone's chest, which resulted in a burst of bugs as it was destroyed. Panting from the exertion, it was hard to fight when you were essentially divided, he regained his feet.

"Like, that was really impressive."

Turning his gaze to Ino, Shino pushed his glasses up slightly. "Thank you. You were doing well with your weapons from what I saw earlier."

"Yeah, but... I keep thinking about Hayate, ya know?"

Shino paused, then nodded slightly. Yes, he could understand that. While Hayate had been his sensei, Ino had been much closer to the man. To learn of his death had been a blow, but thankfully Iruka-sensei had been tactful about revealing it. The details were unclear, merely that he had died in the line of combat.

Which they both took to mean that he had died in something involving this 'Unity' during the Chūnin exams. Still, Ino had been bothered by it, and Shino was inclined to listen to her thoughts. After all, she was the most instinctual one of the team, and her instincts were usually correct.

"I mean, what Iruka-sensei said," Ino paused frowning slightly. "Or maybe it was the way he said it, ya know? 'Died in combat.' That can be awful vague, right?"

"Yes," Shino said, nodding slightly.

"Plus, we haven't seen him for a while now. Ever since Anko took over as a temporary sensei, actually," Ino said, using her good arm to adjust the sling on her bad one. "Maybe they're just trying to hide him from us?"

"That is a possibility."

"...Or he could just be dead," a new voice supplied, causing both ninja to jerk in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" Ino asked heatedly, turning while keeping her hurt arm tight against her side.

Shino, however, noticed her forehead protector strapped to the leg of her casual black outfit. Her face looked drawn and tired, her purple hair unkempt. So, obviously, she was a Konoha ninja, but who she was and why she was here he couldn't begin to guess.

"Uzuki Yugao," the woman said dully glancing between them. "The ANBU Commander asked me to come find you and see which of you wanted to visit Naruto. He's been allowed one visitor."

"I- just one?" Ino said in surprise.

"Apparently they feel he can wait till tomorrow when he gets out, to see whoever doesn't show up," Yugao supplied, her arms hanging limply at her sides. "So which one?"

Shino hesitated. He would like to speak with the boy, if for no other reason than to clear up a few details up concerning the Chūnin Exams. However, Ino seemed almost beside herself, and she had been sending him flowers everyday.

Kekio-chan agreed; he could wait till tomorrow. "Ino, you should go. I am sure he would appreciate you more."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Ino asked, startled.

"Yes," Shino said, his tone growing almost teasing. "Say hello to Naruto-_kun_ for me."

"What do you mean-" Ino snapped before Yugao interrupted her.

"We don't have time for this. Come with me or stay here." Without another word, the older woman turned and started walking away.

Ino shot Shino a dirty look, then hurried after the older woman, leaving Shino alone. Nodding, he agreed with Kekio-chan that Ino was fun to tease and returned to his training.

* * *

"When we arrive, don't speak. You'll have a truth seal placed on you," Yugao said quietly, and Ino sighed, realizing she left no room for pleasantries. "After that, you'll be asked two questions: your name and your relationship with the patient you're seeing. Answer promptly; the ANBU guards will restrain you otherwise."

"Relationship?" Ino repeated blankly, staring at the older woman. "We're team mates, nothing more..."

"It doesn't matter to us what your relationship is," Yuago said blandly. "We just need to make sure you're who you say you are. After you're admitted, you'll be guided into his room, and there _**will**_ be an observer."

"Like, why are you so paranoid about him?" Ino asked, running fingers through her hair before straightening her ponytail. She knew that he had saved the village; everybody knew that. She also knew the Hokage was under heavy guard, which she could understand of course, but this was Naruto.

What reason could there be for this much security? He was just Naruto.

"There have been three attempts on both the Hokage-sama and Uzumaki-san," Yugao said simply. "They are, at the moment, a symbol of this village, and those factions that acted a week ago would like to see them neutralized."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't matter," Yugao said dismissively.

"Right," Ino managed, glancing at the older woman. "So, like, what about my weapons pouch?"

"Surrender when asked," Yugao, said without glancing at her. "You'll get it back upon leaving the ICU wing."

The Genin nodded again, and they both fell into silence as they entered the hospital, then slowly made their way to the highly-guarded ICU hallway. Ino felt her nerves going on edge as she noticed fewer and fewer nurses; it was almost eerie, really. Turning a corner, Ino paused, staring at the doors labeled ICU.

It wasn't so much the doors, but the three ANBU who stood silently in front of this door. Two on either side of the door, and one watching the entry way.

"Well, let's get this over with," Yugao said tiredly as they both reached the ANBU in charge, who, Ino was startled to realize, was unmasked and wearing a forehead protector that resembled the Nidaime's from the history books.

"Uzuki-san, I see you brought a guest, eh?" the man asked, his face and voice devoid of emotions.

"Yeah," Yugao said blandly. "One of the Genin under _Anko_, Yamanaka Ino."

The man nodded politely, not even giving her a first glance, then gestured to Monkey Mask. The ANBU moved away from his station, producing a small sheet of paper that he applied to her forehead along with a burst of chakra. Ino felt a jolt run through her, followed by the unnerving sensation of her normally carefully-built walls crumbling.

It was as if her entire ability to lie had been ripped away. It was a very uncomfortable sensation.

"Name?" Monkey Mask asked, almost bored.

"Yamanaka Ino."

"Why do you want to enter this room? Do you have any other weapons besides the ones in your pouch?"

"To visit Naruto-kun, and no." Ino said promptly, wondering why the man had not asked about her relationship with the boy. That was what Yugao had said would happen, after all, but Ino felt secretly relieved, though why she wasn't exactly sure.

"Relationship to the patient?"

"Iunno," Ino said with a shrug. "He's my team mate, and he's a friend, and helped me through some stuff in the exams. But, like, I used to make fun of him in the academy, and he can be a bit annoying, but he's okay, really, but-"

"Ah, it's like _that_, eh?" Monkey Mask said, cutting her off as he removed the note.

Ino breathed easier at that, feeling her mind return to normal almost instantly. Shaking herself, she glared at the man, who nodded at Yugao before returning to his post.

"Satisfied?" Yugao asked wearily.

"Yes." The lead ANBU nodded. "Your weapons pouch, please."

Sighing, Ino handed over her weapons pouch, then, with a motion from the man, approached the doors and entered the ICU hallway. For a moment, she worried about how to find her team mate, until she saw the two sets of ANBU guards outside two different doors. Well, that made things easier; she could just ask one of them.

Even that was rendered pointless, since the first door she approached opened, and a nurse walked out with Naruto's voice drifting after her.

"-I don't care, I want ramen!"

"You'll eat it and be happy!" the nurse shouted over her shoulder, before glancing at Ino. "Oh, are you here to see him?"

"Y-yeah," Ino admitted, blushing at the knowing looking the older woman gave her. Honestly, it wasn't like that, and she couldn't see why everyone was starting to assume it was! First Sakura, then her own mother, Shino, the guards, and now this nurse! "I'm his team mate."

"Of course dear, just go on in," the nurse said brightly, and Ino snorted, stepping into the room. She spotted the old man first, dressed in red and green, with white spiky hair and a strange forehead protector. He glanced at her briefly, then turned back to the bed.

Ino followed his gaze and felt part of her nearly freeze; there was Naruto. Blond hair, blue eyes, a grin, but he was sporting bandages. He looked worse than what he probably was, but, still, it was a shock to see.

Then, he spotted her, and his grin widened. "Oi, Ino-chan!"

"Naruto-kun," Ino managed, entering the room completely, glancing at the older man. Who was he? He seemed familiar, and he seemed to recognize her somehow. Turning back, she focused on a bemused Naruto. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Naruto groused. "Only, they won't let me out of here yet, and they can't even serve good food!"

Ino didn't even bother glancing at the tray; she agreed with him on sheer principle if nothing else. Hospital food was like academy food: not edible by any known human other than Chōji.

"Well, I guess I should let you talk in private, huh?" the old man said, smirking, before he walked out of the room, despite Naruto's comments about going off to peek on women.

When the door closed, Ino breathed a tad easier. The entire time he had been there, Ino had felt like there was some sort of over bearing weight. His presence had made her feel uneasy about saying anything, which was probably why he left.

"So, how are you and Shino and everything?"

Focusing her attention back on Naruto, she raised an eyebrow, considering that innocent look he was giving her. Then, she smacked him upside his head and fixed him with her glare. "Baka!" Ino shouted, then, seeing his confusion, she crossed her arms and looked at his table, mildly pleased to see her flowers.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Naruto shouted, rubbing his head.

"You lied to m-us!" Ino snapped, glaring at him. "You should have told us about your healing ability! Kami, we've been worrying about you and you have this bloodline that can totally heal you! How do you think that makes us feel? We're suppose to be team mates, and you LIED!"

"Oi, how the hell you'd find out about that Tenkeichiyu thing?!" Naruto shouted. "Plus, like... It didn't seem like a big deal to me!"

"Not a big..." Ino repeated blankly, looking at him. "Advanced Bloodlines are... They make you special, and it's not even that. It's that you didn't tell us about it! You didn't trust us!"

"I do trust you!" Naruto said defensively. "I just forgot about it is all. I mean, it's nothing special. Doesn't make me any better than anyone else or nothin', just means I heal faster than most people."

"You-"

"Ino, it's just some stupid thing that I got from my stupid family. I don't want it, but I got it, and I would have told ya, but I just never thought about it," Naruto said, flopping back onto his bed banging his head on the metal railing. "SHIT!"

Ino felt like laughing, then decided against it. Watching him rub his head muttering darkly, Ino chewed her bottom lip then sighing, pulled up a chair to sit down beside his bed. "Fine, just don't keep anything else from us, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto said grinning at her, the pain forgotten.

"What is it?" Ino said, knowing that smile. It was his 'I have you at my mercy now' smile.

"Well, you figured out what my secret was..." Naruto said, sitting up once more. "So, I think you should tell me yours."

"No!"

"Aww, but Ino-chan, don't you trust me?!" Naruto pouted, and Ino glared at him.

She was pretty sure he was messing with her, but she didn't like him throwing that in her face. She was about to berate him for that, but then decided better of it. Maybe she didn't have to tell him her original secret. After all, she did have a new one she could share with him, and it would explain why she wanted that book Sakura mentioned he had.

"Okay," Ino said sweetly, noting his surprise with a grin of her own. "My secret is, I might be related to the Shodai Hokage."

"The Shodai?" Naruto repeated blankly, then a sort of shock washed over his face.

"Yeah," Ino said, nodding. "I'm not entirely sure, but in a scroll listing jutsu that only my family can use, it mentions something called Mokuton Jutsu-"

"'The Shodai Hokage was famed for his use of Mokuton Jutsu, which was the reason for being given the title of Hokage. He used Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan to grow the trees that serve as the foundation of Konohagakure.'" Naruto said, a small grin on his face. "'He favored diplomacy over force and believed in a passive form of manifest destiny.'"

"...how the hell do you know all that?!" Ino asked in amazement. All this time, and never once had Naruto shown an ability to retain that sort of information.

"Iunno. If it's got something to do with the Hokages, I can usually remember it. I've always been like that."

"Oh, really?" Ino challenged smugly. "What about the Yondaime? What was his nickname?"

"Kiiro Hirameku no Konoha," Naruto said, smirking.

There was something to his new smirk that told Ino he knew more than he had said. Ino really tried to keep from caring, but, damn it, there was just something about that smirk that made Ino want to know. "I swear, if you don't tell me whatever it is you know, I'll show you just how you'd look bald."

"Promise not to freak out?" Naruto asked almost laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Now, what is it?"

Leaning forward Naruto's smirk grew even more pronounced. "The Yondaime Hokage had a lover, who had a son...named Uzumaki Naruto."

Ino blinked, staring at him. At first, she thought he was pulling her leg, making fun of her for claiming a relationship with the Shodai, but then she realized that he was being honest. Naruto was actually... But that was... Ino felt her eyes widen in surprise and shock.

"You are related to the Yondaime? THE Yondaime?! THE STRONGER-THAN-ANYBODY-EVER-I-KILLED-THE-FREAKIN-STRONGEST-DEMON-IN-THE-WORLD YONDAIME!?"

"Yeah," Naruto said softly this time, his gaze shifting from teasing to a more guarded look. "I'm his son."

"Wow," Ino whispered before ginning slightly. "Wait till everyone hears about-"

"No!" Naruto said forcefully, startling the girl. "I don't- Look, I don't want people to know about me being related to him. You're different 'cause... Ya know, Shodai and stuff... But I don't want others to know."

"But, but... Naruto, this is huge, and everyone will-"

"-treat me like Sasuke," Naruto finished for her sourly. "Thanks, but no damn thanks."

"I just don't get it," Ino sighed shaking her head before perking up. "If it were me I'd be bragging all over the place!"

"Hey, you're related to the Shodai," Naruto said with a grin, "and I think I'm the first person you told, neh?"

"Yeah, but that's, like, so totally different!" Ino said defensively. Honestly, how could he compare the Yondaime to the Shodai?

"If you say so," Naruto said, shrugging. "Oh, plus, you'd be related to the Nidaime too!"

"Huh?"

"The Shodai was Nidaime's older brother." Naruto explained, amused. "Didn't you know that Ino-hime?"

Ino blinked, giving him strange look then snorted. "Whatever you say Naruto-ouji." Seeing Naruto's startled glare she smirked, that'd teach him to make fun of her. "So, who was that old man you were talking to?"

"Oh, that was Ero-Sennin," Naruto said with a snort.

"That's his name?"

"Nah, his name is Jiraiya I just call him Ero-sennin. He taught the Yondaime, but he's a damn pervert."

"Wait," Ino said, startled, as the name echoed through her mind. "You're being trained by a Sannin? Is he the new Hokage?"

"Er... Well, he's a Sannin, and he is training me," Naruto admitted, scratching his head. "But, I don't think he's the new Hokage. Maybe it'll be that woman he's supposed to be bringing back to heal the Billy Goat?"

"Woman?"

"Yeah, Tsunade."

"Tsunade?" Ino supplied in amazement.

"Yeah, she's some sorta legendary medic."

"But isn't... Wait," Ino blinked, then began to grin in a rather disturbed fashion. "Oooooh, if she's _that_ Tsunade..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Naruto... I have a great aunt named Tsunade, and the Shodai had a granddaughter taught by the Sandaime, who became one of the Sannin, right?"

"Yea..." Naruto said, eyes widening slightly as he connected the dots.

Ino grinned even more leaning forward to rest her elbow on the edge of his bed while propping her chin in hand. "Then, if they're the same person, I have proof I'm related to the Shodai Hokage. Which means, maybe you don't want others to know about you and the Yondaime, but I am so going to rub that bastard Sasuke's face in it."

"Ino," Naruto said, perfectly serious, despite his own wicked grin. "Please don't tell him unless I'm around. I want to see his face as he craps himself."

"Deal," Ino said with her own equally wicked grin.

* * *

Anko was tired. She was sweaty and in a slightly foul mood. The mission, a rushed A-rank assassination, had taken more time that she cared to dwell on. When she had left, Naruto was still unconscious, but recovering, and Anko would deny it to anyone who asked her, but she loved Naruto.

There was just something about him, something special.

So, yes, he was very precious to her, and when something precious of hers got hurt, Anko got pissed off. A pissed off Anko tended to equal high body counts, in a very bloody fashion, which probably explained the mission. But she was still pissed off at Kakashi, and even more so at Sasuke.

Kakashi should have known better than to use Sasuke, but he had been making do. Sasuke, though, that little shit should have known better than to ignore an order. If it wasn't for the politics of Konoha he'd most likely be sitting in a cell for ignoring a direct order.

However, both were just lucky for her concern over Naruto: it was all that had kept either Sharingan user from being killed in a very bloody fashion. Just thinking about that day, she could remember the way her heart had seemed to stop when he'd gone slack in her arms. It had felt as if a part of her had been ripped away.

Still, things had turned out fine. Well, except that Naruto was still unconscious.

Pushing those thoughts away, the fear of loosing him, she entered the nearly- empty mission hall and presented her report to the on duty ninja, while leaning against the table. "So, any news?"

"Not really," the ninja said, glancing at her nervously before turning back to his work. "Uhm, Uzumaki-san woke up. But that's about it."

"He woke up? When?" Anko asked, startled, cursing the mission.

"Yesterday. Jiraiya-sama has been visiting him. Honestly, most of the village is feeling better now. I mean, he saved us, and if we lost both him and the Hokage..." the ninja paused, his gaze pensive. "Well, it just isn't worth thinking about, is it, Anko-sama?"

"No," Anko said, turning away. "No, it's not"

Exiting the room, she made a bee line for the hospital. He was awake and alone, well, Jiraiya had been to see him, but that didn't count. Naruto had been alone, and she should have been there for him, and not just for his waking up.

She felt the same way about his fight against that Gaara boy: she should have been with him. Should have helped him.

Damn it.

Shaking her head in self-disgust, she weaved her way through the streets, reaching the hospital in an alarmingly small amount of time. Even more alarming were the various ANBU she spotted all over the place hidden from the general public, but not from her. Anko felt their attention as if fixed on her, was aware of the intent that washed over her.

So, they were on guard. That was good because if anything happened to Naruto or the Hokage, they'd be dead before they knew it. Entering the building itself, she was surprised to find the familiar figure of Jiraiya, still dressed in his gaudy outfit and horned forehead protector, leaning against the wall.

He looked as if he had been expecting her, which Anko mused he might have been. Picking up her pace, she crossed the admitting room quickly, uncaring about the scowls she was getting from a few nurses. "How is he?"

"The gaki?" Jiraiya said with a shrug. "Fine as can be expected. Been asking questions and wondering where you were."

"But he's ok right?"

"Yeah, he's probably completely recovered by now," Jiraiya said. "He's got that unique condition and all. Anyway, we should go up. I promised to explain things to him when you got back."

Anko didn't respond to that, instead starting off, leaving the older man to hurry after her. He'd asked about her? Well, that was good to know. That meant Naruto still cared.

Plus, her respect for Jiraiya went up another notch, if that was possible; he had refused to reveal the secret to the boy without her being present. That was a point in his favor and earned him a permanent spot on her list of 'People who were qualified to keep breathing.'

Passing through the security check points, Anko wondered how Naruto was going to react to the news. If he was anything like Anko believed he was, he'd react with a stoic silence and an undercurrent of anger and hurt. She really wished they didn't have to tell him this.

Hell how did you even go about revealing this sort of thing? Anko had no clue, which explained why Jiraiya would do the explaining and she would be offering support. After all, he had accepted her and she saw no reason this changed anything. He was still Naruto, just with a heavier burden.

Nodding at the two ANBU on guard outside the room, the Sannin and former assassin entered the room to discover one Uzumaki Naruto diligently making paper throwing stars and throwing them at a wall. Anko couldn't help but grin in amusement. "Well, glad to see you've kept busy."

"Anko!" Naruto said brightly, a genuine grin on his face. "You're back!"

"Of course I am. I had to come back to beat you senseless for that stunt you pulled," Anko quipped smacking him upside the head, aware of Jiraiya sealing the room from prying ears.

"Hey, I kicked that guy's ass!"

"True," Anko said, nodding as she walked across the room and glancing at Jiraiya who was finishing up and moving to join her near the bed. "So, Jiraiya has a few things to explain. I'll skin ya later."

"Oi, you can try," Naruto shot back, before focusing his attention on the older man. "So, so, you're going to tell me about that chakra and stuff, right?"

"I said I would," Jiraiya said, crossing his arms. "Hmmm, there's actually no other way to say this. Naruto, the Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyūbi-"

"Of course he did!" Naruto said in confusion. "Everyone knows that the Yondaime killed the Kyūbi."

"No," Jiraiya said, shaking his head,. "he didn't. Or, more correctly, he couldn't. It's impossible to kill the Kyūbi."

"But... Everything can be killed!"

"No," the Sannin said tiredly. "The Kyūbi is an isothermal, adiabatic core of intelligent energy which is capable of so directly manipulating nature that it can split matter into component parts, then split those further into their components, and those into theirs and so on, until it has created pure energy that is non-isothermic and non-adiabatic."

"Say wha now?"

Jiraiya blinked, then reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Anko, you explain it to him."

Anko blinked, then scratched her head. "Sure, just as soon as you explain what the hell you're talkin' about."

"Oh, for the love of-" Jiraiya grumbled, crossing his arms. "The Kyūbi was both pure chakra and a generator of chakra. It could literally convert matter into energy, and, since even the smallest amount of matter can produce a lot of energy, it was insanely powerful. Now, of course, since chakra is a form of energy, it had no real need for a physical body and was, thus, held together in a physical form by a malevolent intelligence."

"So, since chakra is just a type of energy, and energy can't be destroyed," Anko said, getting his meaning, but looking at a still- slightly- confused Naruto, "the Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyūbi."

"Huh, but, if he didn't kill it, what happened?" Naruto demanded in annoyance.

"Well, energy can't be destroyed, but it can be changed into other forms and even contained," Jiraiya said slowly, glancing from Anko to Naruto. "The two options were either to convert the energy into matter or to store the energy in something that could harness it."

"So, so? He converted it?"

"No, if he had converted it, he would have had to condense it. Which would release so much residual heat that it would melt the entirety of Hi no Kuni. Also, you would need time to do anything that would disperse its energy, time that it would be attacking you, and -most importantly- being a conscious energy, it might be able to reassemble itself and come back for revenge."

"So, he stored it," Naruto supplied curiously.

"Exactly," Jiraiya said with a nod. "Which was a very difficult task, because limiting its ability to do anything required storing its energy in an appropriate vessel. Something that already contained the same kind of energy, or, in this case, chakra. To make it even more complicated, the vessel he had to use would have to be human so it could exert control over the Kyūbi."

"So... He sealed it inside a human," Naruto said slowly.

Anko focused her gaze on the blond at his tone, and she saw it. He was guessing what this had all been building to; he knew without being told. Naruto wasn't a genius, but he was far from stupid. He could put two and two together. She could even feel something through their link.

Naruto knew.

"Yes, and a baby at that," Jiraiya said, almost ashamed, "because only a baby -which is constantly changing, adapting, and growing- would be able to adapt to the unique frequency of chakra the Kyūbi emanates."

"Me."

"Yes."

Anko forced herself to remain impassive, she had known for a while now. Ever since the Forest of Death, she had only asked Jiraiya to confirm her thoughts on the matter. Now, however, it was real and Naruto's carefree mask was shattered and it broke her heart. Wasn't it enough that he had lost his father? Or that he had spent so many years ostracized? Did they really have to tell him this?

"He sealed the Kyūbi no Yōkō inside you, creating the very thing that Konoha has said was inhumane. But, creating a Jinchūriki was the only way to save the village." Jiraiya explained firmly with a small frown. "Then I unknowingly saw to the final details by hiding your connection to him, making everybody believe the Kyūbi was dead."

"Orochimaru knows," Anko said tiredly, fighting her urge to sit on the edge of Naruto's bed and offer something to help him.

"Well, he is part of a group that's hunting people like Naruto and Gaara down, so that's not a surprise. Not that he'll share that piece of information any time soon, to much power in that information." Jiraiya said dismissively. "More important is the fact that we keep everyone else from figuring this out. It won't last forever, but the more time we have, the less time our enemies have."

"...Others know," Naruto said looking up at the older man. "The spiders and the forest, even against Gaara, that power...it was evil, the Kyūbi right? People have to know."

"Ah, not really. Oh, they might know instinctively, but they'll deny it." Jiraiya explained while lowering his chin. "See, the Kyūbi reduced this village to almost nothing. People are not willing to accept that it's alive on just hints, he would literally have to break free before they would admit it."

"Hence why nobody questioned my explanation of Orochimaru being the one to unleash that chakra in the forest." Anko said, glancing at the older shinobi.

"Exactly," Jiriaya said with nod "right now everyone that knows is in a state of deep denial."

"What about the seal...could it break free? Or could I transform like Gaara did?"

"Break free, not likely. Now transforming...all Jinchuriki can do that, but they're taught how. You haven't been, so to ensure that you don't until I get the chance to train you properly, I've sealed you up again."

Anko watched as Naruto nodded, his face a mask once more, but his eyes dark. She felt Jiraiya glance at her; she looked back and then the man sighed. "I need to go see a toad. Naruto, I'll see you tomorrow to start our training. I'll leave the silencing seals up for the night."

Naruto nodded again, and Anko watched as the man left the room. Letting a few moments pass, Anko studied her student silently. She even managed to block out that tiny voice in her mind, asking how she could use him. Right now, she had more pressing matters.

Seeing his continued silence, but aware of his tensing shoulders, she sat on the edge of his bed, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, what's wrong with you?"

Naruto blinked, staring at her in surprise, as if just now noticing her. "What's... wrong? What **isn't** wrong!?" Naruto shouted. "I find out my dad, who I only just learned about, sacrificed his life to save the village! Then I find out that **his** teacher is the one that made I grew up an orphan. Oh and before I can even wrap my head around that, I find out that I have the fuckin' _**demon **_ that nearly destoryed _our_ village **sealed** inside me because my dad couldn't kill it!"

Anko was silent for a minute. She understood him well enough to know he wasn't looking for pity. He was angry, and he wanted to rage at something, someone. Waiting another moment to see if he had anything else to shout, Anko chuckled. "Well, I suppose if you put it like that..."

"How the hell else could I put it?" Naruto grumbled darkly, crossing his arms.

Anko mused for a moment before smirking. "How about this? Your dad loved you enough to try and spare you the pain of knowing the rest of your horrible family. His teacher cared enough to try and give you a life of your own, and, if he hadn't, you wouldn't be half the man you are today. And, finally, your dad choose you to contain the demon because he didn't think anybody else would be strong enough to do the job."

"But why... Why did it have to be me?"

"'Quick! I need your baby!' 'What for?' 'To seal the Kyūbi in!' 'Wha- Hell, no! Use your own goddamn kid!'" Anko deadpanned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, when you put it that way..." Naruto said with a weak chuckle, before turning serious. "He's gonna take me away."

"Yeah," Anko said after a moment, looking away from the blond to keep her own emotions in check and then chuckled. "That's okay, though. You'll come back."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're too much like me to stay away," Anko said with a smirk, starting to get up.

"Oi, Anko?"

"Yeah, runt?"

"Would you stay? Just for a while?" Naruto asked, looking at his hands.

Anko grinned, happy that he wanted her around, and plopped back on the bed. "Sure...But just 'cause you got me in bed, don't think I'm sleepin' with ya."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

Hittori awoke almost instantly, his ears alerting him to the urgency of the approaching footsteps outside his room. Alert, now, and ready either to attack or retreat, he sought his wakizashi. The short sword would prove utterly useless in a fight, but it could buy him enough time to escape or for guards to arrive.

The footsteps paused, and the Regent tensed; was it a messenger or an assassin? If it was a messenger, what would they have to say that would be so urgent? Glancing at shuttered windows in the far wall, he could see a sliver of the sky; dawn, but overcast.

It would rain soon, which was good, as Kusa rarely had rain.

Shifting his attention back to the door, he listened to the faint argument outside. A messenger, then. Satisfied, he sat up, sparing the woman -one of the Lightening Daimyo's older daughters- a brief glance at her moan.

She had been energetic, and she had previous experience, that had been obvious. But, still, she had been exquisite, and he looked forward to another night with her. At the polite knock at his door, he shifted his attention, listening intently to the faint voice of Hitogoroshi, the captain of his samurai. "Regent-sama?"

"Yes," Hittori answered, easing his sword partway out of the scabbard as the door slid open. Seeing that it was, indeed, Hitogoroshi, the Regent eased his wakizashi back into its scabbard. "What is it?"

"An urgent dispatch from the capital," the captain explained as he quietly entered the room, bringing with him a small oil lamp. Setting the lamp down, Hitogoroshi produced the scroll from his sleeve to offer it formally.

Taking the scroll, Hittori checked the seal, then nodded at the samurai, his voice sharp with command. "Wait outside, and make sure that I am not disturbed."

"Of course," the samurai said, then, bowing, left the room once more, closing the door firmly behind him.

Removing himself from the bed, the regent anxiously studied the seal of his brother before opening the scroll. The message inside was almost like reading chicken scratch, which was unsurprising, since handwriting was one of many things Noga had never bothered to learn properly. Still, as Hittori deciphered the almost incomprehensible scratches, the Regent had to admit that Noga understood the art of cryptography.

On the surface, of course, was the news that Rain ninja had assassinated their father during the Chūnin exams in Konoha. That alone was enough to infuriate Hittori, but it was the secret message, the gloating message, that truly angered him. Noga was proud of his actions in the premature launch of the plan, claimed that it was an opportunity that they could not waste.

It was as he read his brother's eager and proud reasoning for using the alliance with Unity -which Hittori had so painstakingly set up- along with the fake Rain nin assassination -which had been slated for use in another plan- that Hittori realized who was really behind this atrocity.

Noga was a fool. Cunning and vicious at times, but a fool. The boy would not have acted in such a manner on his own. Oh, no; he had been manipulated by someone else, someone who had discovered the plans -Noga had probably been maneuvered into revealing them- and used them for their own ends.

"Hitogoroshi-san!" The door slammed open, the called for samurai on the doorstep with his sword almost drawn. Seeing the man, Hittori continued angrily. "Go get Jomon-san and Heian-san; I need to see them at once and prepare to return to the capital immediately."

"Immediately, Hittori-sama!" Hitogoroshi said with a bow before hurrying off.

Hittori frowned and stared at the scroll once more. Everything was now in jeopardy: Kusa and all of his dreams, all because of this one action. He would have to advance his plans faster than he would have liked.

He would have to change his pace and Hittori did not like having his plans disrupted.

Noga's mother would pay dearly for this.


	23. Chapter 22: Eight Minutes to Midnight

**Naruto**: Altered History  
Chapter 22:  
_-Eight Minutes to Midnight-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

_Oceans of ramen, was there anything lovelier? Naruto didn't think so, but then again he was staring out across the vast ocean of ramen so it'd take a lot to break its hold over him. Limbering up, the blond crouched and then jumped, hurling himself into the air before plummeting into the ramen. Only, instead of stopping, he exploded through into a vast sea of darkness, where something malevolent roamed._

_'You're the Kyūbi!'_

_Naruto panicked and twisted around in the darkness, trying to locate the voice. _

_'Demon! Evil! Foul!' _

_Naruto looked around frantically, feeling invisible hands grasp him. Struggling free from their grasp, he screamed wordlessly in anger before slamming into contact with a hard surface on his back. The shock alone froze him, then groaning he twitched his body ever so slightly to make sure that everything worked properly. _

_Assured that nothing had broken he sat up gingerly, the air turgid and cold. Added to that was the unnerving sound of constantly dripping water and a feeling that this was a very bad place. Getting to his feet, taking in the walls and exposed pipes along with the puddles of dark water, he grimaced wondering where in the hell he was. _

_He couldn't even begin to place any hallway that even came close to this place, a maintenance tunnel that had received very little maintenance. Approaching a wall, he touched it, the thin layer of slime prompting him to pull his hand away. He was just beginning to wonder if this was a very vivid dream when he heard the sound of a voice drifting through the hallway. _

_Turning he frowned, eyebrows knitting together in thought, he could have sworn that voice had called his name. He hesitated, and then hearing it again moved toward it cautiously, wondering. The hallway turned out to be more of a maze, made up of interconnecting and identical hallways, each as horrible as the last and always the feeling that something truly horrendous just lay around the next turn. _

_But that voice, a child's voice in the most haunting tone he had ever heard, called to him. _

_Following the voice and the labyrinth maze of dark, damp tunnels, Naruto knew things were not going to end pleasantly. If there was one thing Naruto was an expert on, outside of Hokage's, it was horror movies and stories. This entire thing screamed horror, it shouted it from the bottom of its heart, that at the center of this whole place was a demon -what kind he wasn't sure- waiting to rend him limb from limb or deliver some other horrible fate. _

_Still, he couldn't not find the center; he was being drawn toward it like a moth to a flame, or a magnet toward metal. It felt like forever, but finally he stepped into a cavern-sized room and paused. At the far end of the room, which bathed in a haunting yellowish light, were thick steel bars that formed a prison of immense portions. _

_Behind those bars, bouncing a small red and yellow ball was an innocent looking eight year old girl. _

_"Oh fuck," Naruto muttered, a chill sweeping through. He knew now, beyond any doubt, that he was in for it, only the most evil of demons pretended to be little girls. It was a fact of nature, the more innocent looking the little girl, the more evil the demon. This girl was the picture of innocence, which meant Naruto now faced a majorly gruesome end. _

_"Naruto," the girl said her voice pure and vibrate, and when she looked up at him, her eyes were a crystal blue "let me out." _

_"Right," Naruto said, moving closer despite his instincts "and while I'm at it, how about I cover myself with ketchup to help with the digestion." _

_The girl smiled at him and Naruto found it creepy as hell. "Catch!" _

_Naruto of course caught the ball out of instinct, and then looked down curiously. He dropped said ball as if burned and stumbled backward in muted horror and shock. Their on the ground, the ball that she had been bouncing, had really been the decapitated head of the Yondaime Hokage. _

_Looking up sharply, Uzumaki Naruto now found a gargantuan shadow, with glowing red eyes and massive fangs, trapped behind the bars. _

_"...can you guess my name?" _

Naruto promptly jerked awake with a violent sweep of his arm, only to have it caught and held in check by a curious looking Anko. Breathing heavily, not relaxing one bit, Naruto stared at her and then his hand in confusion. Why had he tried to hit her? There was something stalking just beyond the edges of his befuddled memory, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"Ah, good, he's awake,." Jiraiya said happily, strolling into the room. "Well, come on, we've got some training to do!"

Anko released his hand, flexing her own subtly and staring at him curiously. Then shaking her head, she handed him a semi-repaired jacket. "Up and at 'em, runt."

Grumbling, Naruto took the jacket and pulled it on as Anko cleared his table with a sweep of her arm. Depositing his gifts into a bag, she tossed it to Jiraiya, before picking up another bag. Dressed now, Naruto stood, popping his neck and wondering why they were leaving so early.

Still, he didn't feel like asking and instead followed the two now -silent ninja out of the room, past the ANBU guards, and to the nurses' station. After more paper work than he cared to think about, Naruto was finally released into the care of Jiraiya and Anko. His first instinct, of course, was to try and find some ramen, but, instead, he was guided out of the hospital, where Jiraiya created a clone to take the bag to Anko's.

"Right, well, let's get moving, shall we?" the white- haired man said happily as Kage Bunshin Jiraiya darted away.

"Nobody should ever be that happy this early in the morning," Anko muttered, following the man, and Naruto realized she was hung over. Knowing Anko as he did, he knew that she could be very violent if provoked. He also knew that it took very little to provoke her in this condition.

So, Naruto, being the considerate person that he was, made sure to stay at the rear of the group, out of harm's way, as he stumbled after the two, stifling his own yawn. As sleep receded, Naruto began to wonder once more why they had to start so early. He was also wondering why they couldn't give him some time to come to grips with what they had told him yesterday.

'Oh, hey, you're actually the jail for the Demon that nearly killed us all, now come on, you gotta train!' Yeah, that was really conducive to his peace of mind. Snorting, Naruto leaped to the rooftops along with the other two, just wishing for a single moment to relax.

Honestly, he had a lot to deal with: First, there was the fact that he was son to the Yondaime. He honestly wasn't even sure what his thoughts or feelings about the great Hokage were. There was resentment, of course, and pride, but now there was anger as well. A lot of anger.

He tried putting himself in the man's situation, but he couldn't. Naruto was sure that he would have found a different way. That he could have killed or defeated the Kyūbi without involving an innocent baby. Naruto wasn't one for self pity, but he couldn't help it. He felt betrayed, but, still, he tried to remember that the Yondaime had to have been desperate.

After all, you didn't seal a demon into a baby, let alone your son, for giggles. You had to have no other option.

Sighing, he shoved it all deep inside him along with the other things he had yet to deal with and instead focused on his surroundings. The sun was slowly climbing into the sky to his right;, the two ninja ahead weren't talking. Looking at the streets below him, he frowned slightly, spotting the lingering signs of the fight.

Kami, what was wrong with people? Why would anyone want to betray their own village?

Leaving the tree tops, the group moved into the semi-dark forest before entering a clearing with three training posts. Coming to a stop, Naruto sighed, while stretching. Kami he felt good. A bit stiff, but good. He hadn't actually realized how much he had missed training till this moment.

Looking at the two, he grinned, stretching his arms out with two loud pops. "Oi, so, how's this work?"

"First, I need you to make me a Kage Bunshin, then you need to pay close attention," Jiraiya said, a small grin on his face.

"Right," Naruto said, with a sharp nod before creating the clone. After that, he shifted his attention the Sannin, wondering what he was going to do. Jiraiya approached the clone, then raised his hand, looking as if he was doing nothing more than holding air... Until a swirling mass of chakra formed in the palm of his hand.

Naruto felt his eyes widen a second before the ball smashed into his clone, who was propelled backwards through a tree before disappearing with a loud pop.

"Fuck me sideways!" Anko said startled.

"Maybe later," Jiraiya returned with a smirk before meeting Naruto's gaze.

"What was that?!" Naruto demanded, more than a little eager to actually learn that.

Jiraiya smiled slightly. "Like I said when you woke up day before yesterday, you're going to be working on a move called the Rasengan. Created by the Yondaime, A-rank and extremely powerful." The man nodded at Anko, who, setting her bag down, tossed Naruto a water balloon with a dubious look on her face.

"Oi, so what's up with this?" Naruto asked as he caught the balloon and glared at the old man. Not that he was about to back talk, after all; anything that could teach him that awesome move was worth doing. Hell, Naruto was even beginning to wonder what else of the Yondaime's there was to learn.

"You saw what I did to your clone, right?" Jiraiya asked, selecting his own water balloon.

"Huh? Sure, you... somehow made it spin around wildly?"

"From a normal point of view, that's how it looked," Jiraiya said with a slightly amused look, then hefted his own water balloon. Blinking, Naruto looked at the balloon, which was making a soft swishing sound as it deformed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that, some how, the old man was making the water spin.

A moment later, the balloon exploded in a small spray of water, and Naruto jerked in surprise.

"With tree walking, your chakra has to be maintained by focusing your mind and keeping that concentration. With water walking, you have to release a fixed amount of chakra continuously..." Jiraiya paused, holding his hand up. "With this, you're combining the two: Like with water walking, you release a continuous amount, and you have to use tree climbing to maintain a fixed amount in your hand."

"Oh," Naruto said, gazing at the balloon. So, he would have to release chakra and then make the water spin. Well, that didn't sound too hard. "I get it."

"All right... Get to work, brat."

"Ossu!"

* * *

_Nanko Shrine, Main Temple..._

Uchiha Mikoto sighed as she slowly descended the stairs beneath the seventh tatmai mat on the far right side, an involuntary shiver racing up her spine from the chill and the knowledge of who she would facing. The Uchiha Clan Elders, they were the men that truly controlled the Uchiha Clan, they alone determined who led and who disappeared, approved marriages and ended others.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she paused, her eyes adjusting to the dim light of the chamber provided by the flickering candles. She noticed the four Elders almost immediately, each grave and locked in a serious discussion. Uchiha etiquette dictated that any woman that wished to address them did so only after announcing their presence and waited for their approval.

Uchiha Mikoto however, was no mere woman. She was the wife of the Clan Leader, whom they had selected, she would be damned before she let them control her beyond what they already did. She had taken three, maybe four, steps before they turned in unision to stare at her.

Their combined gaze made Mikoto shiver, but she refused to back down, though she did politely pause to await their greeting.

"Welcome Mikoto-san, please have a seat." Uchiha Gishou, the eldest, said formally indicating the seat her husband normal used.

"Thank you, however I am merely my husband's chosen messenger," Mikoto said with a polite bow, knowing the trap and instead moved to assume her seiza position on the floor before her husbands spot, as all Uchiha women were expected to adopt. Her eyes briefly glanced at the worn faces surrounding her, then at the small alcove with the paintings of the Tengu leader Sojo-bo and Suswannoo.

Her eyes lingered briefly on the small alter where a scroll sat, a scroll she had urged her husband to destroy on more than one occasion. A scroll that revealed the Uchiha Clan's darkest secrets. Mikoto felt it better to destroy the scroll than to have the information turn against them, to have them revealed for what they truly were.

"So," Uchiha Ahou, the second eldest of the group said after a moment. "Fugaku-san sent you here to speak with us, to reassure us that Itachi-san is not the threat some of us perceive him to be."

"Of course," Mikoto said with a polite half bow. "It is my husbands wish to reiterate and reassure you, the honored Uchiha Elders, that Itachi is no threat to the Clan. Nor will he, through his actions, bring dishonor to our noble clan. Also, my husband wishes to seek your wisdom on the matter involving the Haruno family and an arranged marriage between our youngest son and their only daughter."

"Ah, yes, we have heard of that matter already," Tawainai said casually, running a withered finger along his chin thoughtfully. "of course we are honored that Fugaku-san seeks our wisdom on this matter and in due time we will give it."

"However," Gishou interrupted smoothly "we would like to discuss Itachi-san in more detail. He is, after all, a more pressing detail than an arranged marriage to a Clanless girl."

Keeping her temper in check, after all Sasuke was her favorite son, Mikoto instead placed her hands on the floor, and then her forehead on the back of them, her voice demure. "Forgive me Elders, I am only the chosen messenger for my husband. I repeat, Itachi is of no threat to the Clan or its honor. My husband swears this on his own honor as the Uchiha leader, affirming this by offering his life if he should be wrong."

"Very well," Ahou intoned dispassionately "we accept his pledge in this matter. I inquire now, an explanation from you, as to why Itachi-san has been acting so strange as of late. His hours away from the Clan district, his distancing of the Clan from himself, of his open disdain for the Uchiha clan and its customs."

"I can offer none," Mikoto said without looking up or moving from her position, hating the formality and the subservient role the Clan demanded of her. "I can only offer my opinion that Itachi has been deeply affected by Shusui's suicide and that the stress is finally getting to him. He is eighteen, that is so very young, with so much responsibility. I believe that is the only reason for his actions."

"It is a possibility, just as it could be a mother's devotion to not see a serious threat-" Gishou started to say before Aigin cut him off abruptly.

"We have heard Fukgau-san's answer. He has sworn to us that Itachi-san is not a threat, Mikoto-san also believes this otherwise she would not be here in such a humble position." the older man said, his tone quiet. "As for the subject of arranged marriages, I see no reason for the Haurno girl to be denied. They do not come from a ninja clan, their genetics should allow for the proper disposition for the Sharingan to be passed along. I do however, wondered if maybe we are over looking another matter that should be discussed."

"Aigin-sama, what other matter is there?" Mikoto asked, sitting up glad for the man who always spoke as the voice of reason among the Elder's.

"The one concerning the Uzumkai," Aigin said with a wry smile "his bloodline of course is highly sought not just by us. I believe the other clans will act soon, when it is learned that he has been released from the hospital. However, I wish to act first and request that you find a suitable female to...convince the child properly."

"I will of course try," Mikoto said, keeping her disgust at such a tactic carefully hidden. Women in the Uchiha Clan were not to expect to be treated any different, merely used to gain an advantage, but Mikoto couldn't help her feelings. "However, the Yamanaka girl could prove a problem."

"I am sure, with the proper choice, any Uchiha girl can solve her." Gishou said firmly. "You have our request."

"Hai," Mikoto managed evenly with a polite bow. "I will see to it personally."

"Very well," Gishou intoned "there is still one other matter we must now address. It concern's Sasuke-kun and the reaction this village has had toward hearing such undiluted truth."

"Yes, you must explain to him that while he was quite correct in his assessment of himself and this village, it is unseemly to point this out to the others.

"Ego's are easily bruised after all when they hear such unapologetic truth."

"Of course," Mikoto demurred, sighing in annoyance at these old men and their continued platitudes. Still she was there until they decided to finish and she had no choice but to bow and agree.

* * *

"-and she was all weird and everything. Anko's insane! Kami, I don't see how Naruto-kun ever managed to stay alive as her apprentice. Plus, like, how she dresses is a bit-"

"-Extreme. I know, it's so totally the same with Kurenai-sensei. She always wears those bandage -like things, and a shirt, which, ya know, just barely cover her!" Sakura agreed, nodding seriously while grinning slightly. She had never realized just how much she had missed having another girl to talk with. With her rabid Sasuke-fandom, she had alienated the other girls in the village, so being back on speaking terms with Ino was a welcome relief.

After all, Sasuke was great and all, but, well, yeah.

"At least she's nice, though," Ino said sourly.

"Ha! You've never seen her when she's angry or you've made a mistake," Sakura said, glancing at her only recently reacquired friend. "Kurenai-sensei gets all over you and won't let up. Then, if you do finally get it right, she turns all sweet and stuff... It's like she has a split personality!"

"Well, that is scary," Ino admitted with a nod, before grimacing. "But, like, Anko-sensei is even scarier 'cause she's always smiling, even when she's promising to skin us or rip our throats out."

"But even scarier, they want us to be like them!" Sakura said, shivering.

"I know," Ino agreed, before stopping in front of a store display. "Ooh! What do you think?"

Sakura studied the outfit in question; in her opinion, it was ugly as hell. But Ino seemed to like it, and Sakura was aware of how tenuous this repatched friendship was. Still, Sakura couldn't just swallow her opinion on everything. At most, she could refrain from using Ino's nickname. "Please, that is so last year."

"Well, I think it looks good," Ino said dismissively, eying it critically.

"So, Naruto," Sakura said lightly, studying the way her friend subtly tensed. While Sakura herself didn't particularly care for the boy, Ino seemed fond of him. Sakura even mused that he had to have some hidden redeeming quality. She was willing to consider the possibility, since, indirectly, he had given her Ino back as a friend.

"We're just team mates," Ino said curtly, not looking at her. "Friends."

"So you've said," Sakura said breezily, with just enough emphasis on 'said' to make it clear Sakura thought differently. "But I meant, what's he like? All I remember is this goof ball from the academy, kinda smart when it came to pranks, but annoying as hell."

"Actually," Ino said a slight grin on her face. "He's still pretty much like that. Most of the time he acts like a mischievous kami. Other times, he can just look at you and you, iunno, you realize there's more to him than you think. Like, I remember when I made my first-"

"Kill," Sakura supplied supportively at Ino's hesitation.

"Yeah... And he was the one that talked me through it, ya know? Only, when he looked at me, I felt..." Ino paused, deep in thought. "You know how sometimes you can feel intimidated and drawn all at once? It felt like that. Kami, it's hard to describe."

"'Sokay," Sakura said, nodding. She understood Ino perfectly, and it was hard to describe. "So, he's definitely worth knowing?"

"Yeah," Ino nodded, walking away from the window display, lost in thought.

"So, _is_ there something going on between you?" Sakura prodded teasingly.

"There is nothing," Ino said hotly, glaring at her, "going on between me and Naruto-kun!"

"So you say," Sakura said dropping the subject. She knew just how dangerous the subject could become because it would lead to teasing Ino about Naruto's fan girls, which would be a fast way of destroying their rebuilt friendship. Worse, though, it was because talking about Naruto tended to led into a discussion of Sasuke, and Ino was a long way from being able to discuss Sasuke calmly.

"So, what about Sasuke? Is he still training?" Ino asked, startling Sakura. Ino had actually managed that name without a sneer.

"Yes," Sakura admitted, chewing her bottom lip nervously, lapsing into thoughts about Sasuke, and her unease at how fixated he was becoming. He was always training, now; he never let up, and her one visit had met with a very harsh response. He seemed to think she didn't want him getting stronger, but all she had asked was if he would like to go eat with her. But it wasn't his fault, Sakura soothed her bruised ego. He was being driven by his Clan's expectations.

"Naruto's the same way," Ino admitted, sounding a bit put out.

Sakura nodded, but remained silent. What could she say? Naruto was an orphan trying to become Hokage. He was being driven much the same way Sasuke was. Sakura privately felt Ino was better off being unable to see the boy at the moment; it was a side no girl should see in their boyfriend.

Thinking of Sasuke drew her mind to her father, and Sakura surreptitiously hugged herself to remove the memory of his touch. It wasn't just the fixation on training that was getting to Sakura. Without Sasuke around, her father seemed to think he had a free hand. Sakura knew, logically, that she could stop her dad, but he was her dad, and she couldn't bring herself to...

Forcibly relaxing her arms, she focused on the people around her. They were all so happy, going about their daily routine, seemingly oblivious to the two kunoichi. Here and there, she could hear snippets of conversation mentioning Naruto and how they had always knew he'd be great.

It was another all -too -painful reminder that Sasuke needed to come back soon because, if he remained hidden away training for much longer, it would only get worse. They already misunderstood him, and his continued absence was prompting some to whisper about cowardice. Even Ino -who had a dim view of Sasuke in light of events- had commented at how odd it was that they would say that about Sasuke, since Naruto was doing the same thing.

Shaking her head, Sakura put thoughts of Sasuke aside, with difficulty. "So, who do you think will get the promotion?"

"Huh? I don't know," Ino said with a slight scowl. "I know I'm pretty much outta the running, thanks to your boyfriend."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, annoyance flaring inside her. "It wasn't entirely his fault, though. You were the one that wouldn't give up."

"Sakura, at what point during our fight did Sasuke NOT insult me? Was it calling the kenjutsu I worked my ass off to learn weak and then swiping it? Was it breaking the sword left to me by my now-dead sensei? Or was it calling my entire family pathetic while he broke my arm and kicked in my teeth?" Ino asked heatedly.

"Ino, I'm not gonna do this. Again," Sakura said curtly. "I'm not defending Sasuke-kun to you again, he's sorry. He knows he overreacted, I know he over reacted, but, seriously, bringing it up all the time is a bit much!"

"Well excuse me for-"

"Hey, aren't you on Naruto-kun's team?"

Both girls jerked out of their argument, rounding on the intruder only to be brought up short by the group of girls in front of them. They looked, as crazy as it seemed, like academy students. The oldest one looked as if she was just now getting close to graduating. Sakura raised an eyebrow, watching the oldest girl glance from Ino's arm to her face.

"Yeah, I am," Ino said slowly, a little thrown. "Why do you want to know?"

"We're here to tell you not to get any ideas," the girl said haughtily, shaking her hair out. "Naruto-kun is off-limits."

"... He..." Ino blinked, then looked at Sakura in confusion. "Is she serious?"

"I think so," Sakura said, blinking in confusion as well.

"Oh," Ino said, turning back to the other girl. "Look, this is a big girl conversation. Why don't you and your friends go play dolls or something?"

"As if, cripple," the girl retorted snidely. "Just keep your hands off our Naruto-kun. If you try anything-"

"Wait, are you, like, threatening me?" Ino asked in surprise, sweeping her eyes up and down the other girl in annoyance.

"I'm promising!"

"Fan girls," Sakura said succinctly as she rolled her eyes, aware of the tightening of Ino's muscles. "Come on, Ino, let's just go." Ino ignored her, a dangerous intent radiating off her. "You know you can't reason with them, Ino, come on..." Sakura almost pleaded, sensing an impending death.

"I guess you're right," Ino admitted with a dismissive sigh. "Later, thunder thighs, thigh-ettes." The girls squawked indignantly at this, but Ino was already walking away, and Sakura hurried after her.

Ino, however, was looking less than thrilled. Which Sakura understood. She could remember her first few serious encounters with Sasuke's fan girls. Still, it provided the best chance to keep Ino from renewing their earlier argument.

"Are you jealous?"

"No!" Ino said, a faint blush creeping into her cheeks. "I just can't believe those, those hogs! They, well everyone, ignore him all this time, and now, just because he saves the village, they're all over him. How hypocritical! Besides, it's not as if Naruto-kun would ever actually like fan girls, especially ugly ones like her!"

"Relax," Sakura said, her lips twitching in humor. "So, Naruto's got a few fan girls-"

"You're only saying that because that means Sasuke has less!" Ino snapped.

"Hey, I'm just saying... Though, he might like the attention he'll get when he comes back. After all, you just said he was ignored before now. Kami knows how much attention he'll be getting now."

"Shit!" Ino swore, causing Sakura to laugh. "Oh you think this is funny? How hard is it to find Sasuke, hmm? I'm sure even with his little speech, there are girls willing to go help him 'unwind' from all that training."

"No way!" Sakura shouted angrily while glaring at Ino. Then, seeing the other girl's smug look, snorted.

"Ha! In your face, forehead!"

"Watch it, piggy," Sakura growled, then, after a few moments of silence, glanced at Ino's arm. "You know... I could probably heal that."

"Huh?" Ino managed, startled, then glanced at her arm. "But, like, how?"

"Well, the only reason they reset it and didn't use any medical jutsu on it was because it's preferable to heal naturally. But that's only because healing jutsu create a dependence and likelihood of decreased natural recovery," Sakura explained with a shrug.

"If I, like, let you heal it, how much time would that take off?"

"If I healed it, I might be able to shave a few weeks off, but it'd be a bit tender and sore," Sakura said thoughtfully. "What kind of break was it, exactly?"

"Partial fracture," Ino said sourly.

"Hmm, well that'd take, like, two months to heal normally," Sakura said, nodding. "I'm no Tsunade-sama, but if it was at least a clean break and easily set, I should be able get that down to a month at most."

"You know, speaking of Tsunade..."

* * *

With a loud screech, several birds broke cover and exploded into the early morning sky in a flurry of flapping wings. The source of their disturbance was one Uchiha Sasuke, who was striking the -so far only- undamaged training log with all of his strength. Sweat was beading on the sides of his face, his breathing irregular, and, most importantly, his eyes were fixated on the target before him.

Punch after punch, kick after kick, he never let up, not until this log, too, cracked. Stumbling away, he doubled over, gulping in air. He had been at this since sunrise, as he had every day since the end of the Chūnin exams, training and pushing himself, trying to get stronger. Sasuke had even redoubled his efforts three days ago upon learning that Naruto had apparently disappeared from the hospital to train.

He couldn't understand it. Hadn't he trained enough? Learned enough jutsu? He was a genius and an Uchiha! How could that Naruto keep beating him? He held no illusions about that fact; even if he believed he could have won his match against the boy, there was a nagging part of his mind whispering that Naruto would have beaten him.

Sasuke just wasn't strong enough, and he didn't understand why or how the other boy could be better than him. Was it a karmic joke? Growling in frustration, Sasuke stood upright and flashed through the seals before exhaling a sudden burst of chakra -laced air. A moment later the training posts, along with the entire clearing, was engulfed in the blinding white hot flames of his fire ball.

Stretching it out for as long as he could, Sasuke stumbled, head swimming as his air finally gave out. "Why," Sasuke mumbled, leaning against an undamaged tree for support. "How did he get so strong?"

Briefly, he wondered if, maybe, he was making to much of this. Perhaps, if he relaxed slightly, it might help him. As it was, he kept pushing people away, his family and Sakura. He felt a part of him crave some sort of contact with at least the pink- haired girl; she was the only non-Uchiha he could stand, after all. But she hadn't understood his need to train, she had tried to talk him out of getting stronger.

Angry, he darted from the tree while drawing his shuriken and throwing them in such a rapid manner that the charred branches he had targeted snapped. Angry and frustrated, he formed the three seals needed, gathered the burning chakra, then concentrated it into the chirping lightning of the Chidori. With a scream, Sasuke charged across the clearing at one of the few remaining unharmed trees.

A moment later, his hand, fingers drawn together like a spear, drove itself through the trunk and out the other side in an explosion of splinters. "Gah!" Sasuke screamed, the chakra dying as he slowly removed his arm from the hole. Breathing heavily, he swore, promising that he would not stop for anything.

He wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't go back home, not until he was stronger. Strong enough to beat Naruto, and then, when he was able to do that, he would be one step closer to defeating his brother. Sasuke would be second to nobody. Not a Hokage wannabe, nor a would -be- god -of- shinobi.

Creating a handful of Kage Bunshin, which thankfully he had thought to copy from Naruto, he leaped backward. Landing, his eyes darted between the Kage Bunshin, then darted again as the one on the right began flashing through a series of seals. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

A second later the air was filled with a series of fireballs, each hiding a deadly secret of spinning shuriken. Sasuke himself danced and weaved his way through the attack, Sharingan working overtime. Skidding to a halt, Sasuke located his Kage Bunshin and hurled a shuriken and flashed through a series of seals for the Shuriken Kage Bunshin.

A moment later the air was filled with several hundred. The Kage Bunshin exploded spectacularly, but Sasuke didn't rest.

Pushing through the burning in his lungs, he dropped low, flashing through another series of hand seals. A moment later, he dodged and weaved his way through the hail of kunai from the last Sasuke Kage Bunshin, before plunging his Chidori through the clone's chest.

The smoke that enveloped the clone was acidic enough to make Sasuke's eyes water and back away. Sensing the few remaining Sasuke Kage Bunshin, he lashed out in a flurry of taijutsu and high -level ninjutsu. A second later, he was alone in the clearing, breathing heavily, dripping with sweat and his body trembling.

Why wasn't this working? He had been training for so long, trying to edge himself forward, past Naruto. Trying to evolve his Sharingan beyond its three-tomoe stage like he knew Itachi had done. Even now, he knew that none of this was actually helping him, it was merely exhausting him. What had Itachi had done for his power?

Why wasn't he stronger?

Straightening up, Sasuke tried to breathe, but his head swam, and there was a sharp pain from the sealed mark on his neck. Suddenly, the ground was rushing toward him in a haze of darkness. Landing with a soft thump, Sasuke drifted endlessly in his dreams, trying desperately to grasp Itachi.

It felt like he was drowning, like he was dying.

Then, suddenly, the pain was gone, and his vision cleared. Slowly at first, then faster, the darkness peeling away to reveal the clearing. Then, Sasuke noted the Konoha forehead protector, the white hair, and the glasses.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, a Medical Genin of Konoha," the bespectacled male said, his hands still glowing faintly. "You're lucky I was nearby, training, Uchiha-sama; you nearly died of chakra exhaustion."

"Hn," Sasuke managed, allowing the boy to work his magic. He had to train. Every minute he wasn't getting stronger was another minute Itachi was getting beyond him. Naruto, too, he silently added, willing his body to recover.

"Whew, you've really been pushing it haven't you?" Kabuto said lightly, finishing up. "You should get some rest; I don't think your Clan would appreciate you killing yourself this way."

"I'm fine," Sasuke said curtly, struggling his way upright while shoving the boy aside. Sadly, his body seemed to differ on the subject, and he toppled, almost crashing to the ground yet again, except for the steadying hand of Kabuto, who had caught him.

"So you say, but I think your body has other thoughts on the manner."

"I don't have time for this," Sasuke mumbled, trying to stop the boy from leading him to an almost- undamaged boulder.

"Uchiha-sama, you have to rest," Kabuto said with a slight shake of his head. "I don't understand why you and Uzumaki-san are pushing yourselves so hard."

"Naruto? You've seen him training?" Sasuke demanded, glaring at the man intently.

"Aha, so that's it?" Kabuto said nervously, obviously unnerved. "I don't think you'll reach him this way, though."

Sasuke stared at the older teen intently, willing him to explain what he meant. Wanting to know if this boy had an answer, how to get even stronger. Because Naruto was only short term. He needed long term. He needed to beat Itachi.

"Er... Uchiha-sama, why are you staring at me like that?" Kabuto asked nervously, regaining his feet.

"You said I would be unable to surpass Naruto this way," Sasuke said curtly. "How can I surpass him?"

"Well, I just meant you're both training nearly the same in intensity and amount," Kabuto explained with a shrug, "The only real difference I see is your teachers, rather than your training methods. He has both a Sannin as his teacher, and before that didn't he have a Sannin's former student?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, a crease forming between his eyebrows. No wonder that idiot was getting so strong. Sasuke needed to get equal instruction. But the only one who came close was Itachi, and Sasuke was not about to ask him for help. Nor would his older brother deign to help him even if he did ask. After Itachi, who else in this village was worth asking?

"Thank you, Yakushi-san. However, I must resume my trainin-"

"I think you need to rest," Kabuto said firmly, and the next thing Sasuke knew, he was once more enveloped in total darkness.

* * *

Kakashi felt trapped; he was not used to being forced to stay in one place. He should have been drifting around the village, keeping an eye on things, not trapped behind this desk. Plus, the paper work never ended, he couldn't go more than five steps from the office without Chūnin guards, and, worst of all, he couldn't get five minutes alone to read his precious. He wasn't even officially the Godaime yet, and he was already being deprived of his joys.

Kakashi was truly beginning to appreciate the horrors of being a Hokage.

Resisting the urge to bang his head on the desk, he instead looked at the shinobi arrayed around the office. There were Homura and Koharu, representatives of the Village Council, and Hyūga Hiashi, sole representative of the Clan Council. Of course, he couldn't over look Gai -Kakashi almost winced just remembering Gai's arrival- and Anko, who had taken to balancing one kunai atop another on her finger.

Shaking his head, he looked up as the door to the office opened and Izumo stuck his head in, confirming that, even after two hours, there were still only three shinobi waiting out there.

"Mitarashi-san," Koharu said, her patience finally breaking. "Would you mind telling us where, exactly, Uzumaki-san is?"

"Training somewhere," Anko supplied succinctly without looking away from her balancing act.

"Naturally, you didn't see a reason to interrupt him for this?" Homura asked with a slight edge to his tone.

"Naturally," Anko agreed, oblivious. "Just a ceremony; he's got the rank either way."

"That is beside the-" Kohura started to say before Kakashi cut her off.

"Bring them in, Izumo," Kakashi sighed, standing as the door opened and the three new Chūnin were led inside. Neji came to a stop on the left, looking aloof; Tenten was on his right, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Shino was the last and, as usual an enigma.

"So nice to see all of you," Kakashi said, eye curving upward happily. "I'm pleased to announce that, due to your outstanding abilities, as well as your loyalty and leadership skills, you have been selected to bear a burden few can bear, and even fewer deserve."

Pausing, Kakashi made a motion at the vest laid out on the desk before him. "The rank of Chūnin is very important. You now inherit the responsibilities of solving the problems that beset us all. Threats of war, ancient hatreds, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our own people."

He felt Hiashi stir slightly, and even Kohura and Homura focused on him intently. It was almost intimidating, but Kakashi had been ANBU Commander for a long time and a student of the Yondaime. This was nothing. Still, he decided to ease off the doom speech.

"Through your use of personal abilities and sacrifice, I am proud to usher you into the ranks of Konoha Chūnin. From here on, you are each entitled to all privileges and befits of said rank, but remember that you must now take up even greater burdens to keep the roots of the great tree that is Konoha firmly rooted."

Pausing one last time, Kakashi gestured at the green flak vests on the desk before each shinobi. "On behalf of the Hokage's office and Hi no Kuni, congratulations on achieving your promotion to the rank of Chūnin."

As expected, Tenten eagerly grabbed hers and put it on, a satisfied grin on her face. Neji and Shino, however, took theirs and held them. Kakashi chuckled at that; he could remember doing that back when he had first been promoted to Chūnin. He was pulled from his musings by Tenten, who had apparently decided to comment on the fourth vest.

"Why were there four?"

"Because," Neji said blandly as he finally seemed to decide to put his on, "obviously, four of us were promoted. The real question should be, 'Who is the fourth person?'"

"Good point," Tenten conceded, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, it might be Sakura or, I guess, the boy with the dog."

"Or Naruto," Shino supplied.

"Yes, he is most likely," Neji agreed, looking at Kakashi curiously. "Why, exactly, is Uzumaki-san not present?"

"He's currently occupied elsewhere," Kakashi said, his eye curving up once more. "Now, all of you get out of here before I sic Anko on you."

Unsurprisingly, Tenten bolted with a hurried bow, Neji inclined his head and walked from the room, and Shino remained motionless before turning and walking out as well. Chuckling to himself, Kakashi sat back down and sighed, glancing at the others who were already in a heated discussion about something. He considered making a break for it, but Izumo was already bringing the day's stack of paperwork.

Kakashi couldn't help but whimper.

* * *

"Oi, so the secret was to spin it in more than one direction," Naruto said, holding the water balloon up in his left hand while manipulating it with the fingers of his right. He felt a bit like he was cheating, but he offset that with the fact that he had figured this step out in just three days. "'Cause, if I just spin it in one direction, it just stretched flat, but wouldn't break!"

Grinning at the white -haired man, who was looking on with surprise, Naruto continued his manipulation of the balloon, causing it to become deformed and misshapen. A minute later, the balloon blew apart, drenching Naruto's hand, but the boy never stopped grinning. Yes! He'd done it, he'd figured this out, and he was now one step closer to his dream.

"Creative," Jiraiya said in approval. "So, you use your left hand to spin the chakra, then, grabbing it with your right, use your fingers to manipulate the water into moving in different directions?"

"Yep!" Naruto said with a grin. "I was getting really frustrated, and then, like, I squeezed the balloon really hard and saw it deform. That's when I realized what you were doing! After that, I just played around and came up with that. I could hit it, too, but this way is a bit faster. "

"Well, it's still pretty good for just being at this for three days," Jiraiya said, producing an orange ball. "You got it in about the same time it took me. Now, let's see how you handle this."

Naruto blinked, startled that he had figured something out so quickly, and a little annoyed as the man began bouncing the ball he had produced. Then, he watched as the ball rebounded hard from the ground with a soft 'poing' and then shot into the air before coming down at his face. Naruto reacted quickly, catching the rubber ball, while wincing from the sting in his hand.

"Second Step," Jiraiya intoned solemnly, holding his own ball -with a picture of a frog- up. "Break the ball."

Naruto blinked, then watched as the rubber ball Jiraiya was holding blew apart with a loud ripping noise and a burst of power. Frowning, Naruto looked at his own ball and, placing his hands on it, began working diligently, managing at least one bump before it suddenly stopped.

Panting, he glared at it, then at the old man, before trying again.

He tried for a sold ten minutes, each failed attempt increasing his frustration. He knew that he was doing it just as he had with the water balloon, but this time it wasn't working. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to pop. Panting and hands trembling, Naruto looked up at the smirking Sannin, wondering if maybe this was all just a trick for that man's sick amusement.

"So, you get it now?" Jiraiya asked finally, crossing his arms. "It's at least a hundred times harder than the water balloon. It took me three weeks to figure this step out, and the Yondaime about six months. Of course, he did invent the jutsu and didn't have anyone guiding him."

"Heh," Naruto panted, before concentrating on the ball yet again. This time, however, he considered what he was doing wrong. It wasn't technique, that much he knew. Maybe he should try striking the ball instead of using his fingers? Holding it aloft in his left hand, Naruto took a breath. Then, spinning his chakra, he brought his right hand forward rapidly.

For a minute, he thought it was working: The rubber ball deformed, but then, just as before, it went smooth again. "Gah!" Naruto said loudly, glaring at the ball with pure venom. "What the hell am I doing wrong!?"

"Naruto, the first step was to spin," Jiraiya chuckled. "The second step involves adding power. This is the hardest step because, without water, you can't feel your chakra moving."

"So... I add power," Naruto muttered, glaring at the ball. This stupid thing was getting in his way of being Hokage. Plus, he was determined to surpass the Yondaime. Clutching the ball tightly in his left hand, he began pouring as much chakra into as he could while striking the surface.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there doing this, but suddenly his hand was no longer just tired, it was beginning to hurt.

A lot.

But, the ball was deforming, so he didn't let up, couldn't let up. "I can't fail..." Naruto muttered, pouring even more chakra into it. His head was beginning to swim, his arms to tremble, and his hands to throb with pain. Loosing his concentration, he stumbled, then, shaking his head, he caught his breath and tried again.

Over and over, trying desperately to master this step.

Every last erg of his chakra, he poured it all into the ball until his vision blurred, and, losing concentration, he collapsed to the ground painfully. Breathing heavily, sweating, and unable to see anything but blurs, he lay there, drifting on a sea of thoughts and half-formed dreams. He had to get back up, had to try again, and he even managed to push his way up to his hands and knees.

Then, dry heaving, he collapsed to the ground once more and, thankfully, unconsciousness swept over him.

Still, Naruto never let go of that ball.

* * *

Uchiha Fugaku should have been at home, working on keeping the Clan from imploding. Itachi was getting progressively stranger, the others progressively paranoid and Sasuke, was begining to worry both him and Mikoto. Well more Fugaku than Mikoto, for the simple reason that Fugaku knew his youngest son was very obsessive about things.

Of course, he also had to handle his duties as the head of Konoha's Military police force, and things were getting even crazier there.

Yet, instead of handling all of that, he was sitting here, after roughly two weeks of demanding a meeting, wasting his morning staring at Kakashi. The masked man had been a thorn in the Uchiha Clan's side for thirteen years, ever since he had been given that eye. Even Fugaku had a hard time dealing with the masked man; Obito had been his favorite cousin, after all, and it was galling to have a non-Uchiha remain in possession of that eye.

Kakashi had, for the last ten minutes, been listening to Fugaku defend his Sasuke. Fugaku had pointed out that Sasuke had, in a way, been telling the truth. That Sasuke had just been carried away, as children his age were prone to do, and that he knew that not everyone were inferior to the Uchiha.

The entire time Fugaku had explained all of that, Kakashi had listened, and Hyuga Hiashi -Voice for the Clan Council- stood in the corner, smirking. To say that Fugaku was upset would be the understatement of a lifetime. Thankfully, Kakashi was now, as if he was repeating a speech from the Sandaime, accepting Fugaku's explanations.

Fugaku was even beginning to think of how best to work this toward gaining access to the Uzumaki bloodline when his thoughts were utterly disrupted by one sentence.

"-Still, you can understand why we can't allow Sasuke to be promoted," Kakashi said.

Fugaku stared at the man incredulously, his every muscle slack. He shook his head to clear it, determined that he had misheard. "Excuse me? It sounded like you just said you would not allow his promotion."

"Well, he insulted quite a few important people, and he showed no Chūnin qualities in either of his matches-"

"-One of which was interrupted before a final outcome could be determined," Fugaku said firmly. "I'm not sure it should count in either one's case."

"Well, minus that then, he came across extremely badly," Kakashi said blithely. "Plus, there is the simple matter that he ignored orders during a time of crisis, which I could normally understand, except that he went out of his way to do so repeatedly."

"But he saved several academy students and civilians," Fugaku countered.

"Yes, but he jeopardized thousands more by not informing Itachi-san of my message," Kakashi said, nonplussed.

"The Clan's, of course feel the same," Hiashi added indifferently. "His arrogance was atrocious, his skills doubtful, and his reliability nonexistent."

Fugaku glared at the other Clan leader, then turned his attention back to Kakashi. He had to figure some way out of this. Sasuke deserved his promotion much more than the Hyūga or the talentless weapons girl. As for how to convince them of this fact, however, the Uchiha patriarch had no clue.

His only chance was to make it both political and personal. That would force them to grant the promotion. He hated pulling such an underhanded trick, but for Sasuke he would attempt it.

"I will concede that you've raised good points," Fugaku said carefully. "However, please remember that Sasuke is a tad young and prone to saying rash things. He is, however, a capable leader, very talented, and he has the Sharingan, which would be an invaluable asset to a Chūnin."

"Uchiha-san," Hiashi said. "Perhaps you fail to realize that the very people he would be attempting to lead were among the people he insulted? No military commander can lead effectively if his own men are actively hostile toward him."

"I think, Hyūga-san, you underestimate their ability to separate personal conflicts from the professional responsibilities as demanded of a sShinobi," Fugaku countered, pleased that the idiot had provided the opening he needed. "Of course, you could be correct, since it seems that Hatake-san has allowed his anger over having his own technique stolen to influence him. It is an understandable reaction, but you can hardly hold that against Sasuk-"

"Fugaku-san, the decision is not going to change," Kakashi said, cutting him off. "Sasuke can try again in six months, but no one in this village is going to approve his promotion."

Fugaku glared at Kakashi in disbelief. It was all he could do to keep from killing the man. He even envisioned leaping across the desk and decapitating him, but held himself in check. It wouldn't be worth the trouble, but now if he could manage it and then frame the Hyūga he'd not hesitate.

Shaking his head, Fugaku got to his feet and walked out, darkly wondering what he would do now.

* * *

The air was still; the only sounds that of rustling of leaves, the distant noise of Lee and Gai training, and the sound of metal weapons striking the hanging targets with an almost inaudible thump. Inhaling calmly, Neji forced the world away even more, attempting to make his mind a clam ocean.

_Empty the mind, be formless. Shapeless. _

He was serenely aware of the weapons striking the tree, outlining his seated form. Cradling his hands calmly in his lap, he concentrated on his breathing. Slow, steady, controlled. He could feel the connection to his body fading, fading... And then, in the emptiness, of his mind he was jarred by the sudden image of Tenten and a bloody kiss.

Tensing ever so slightly, his was mind jarred back into awareness of the world. Taking another breath, the Hyūga genius forcibly cleared his mind, creating the formless void from before. Breathe in, breathe out, forget the world.

_Calm, control, stillness. _

His body was falling away yet again; the noise of the world faded away. Then he was jarred back into the world once more by the memory of that bloody kiss, of her screams. This time, he couldn't stop himself from opening his eyes to stare at the girl in question, watching her twirl a kunai around a finger absently.

Beautiful, he thought before closing his eyes once more. Taking a deep breath, he expelled it heavily, berating himself. He should not be thinking of her like that, should not feel anything for her. She was not, he could _not_, care for her in such away.

Yet, he couldn't get that kiss out of his mind.

She had thought she was dying, he rationalized like he had for the last few weeks. She had a crush on him: he knew it. How could he not, with his eyes? It was understandable that she would do such a thing. As her team mate, he had allowed it because _he_ had thought she was dying. Yet, now, he couldn't let it or the emotions it had stirred within him, go.

He tried to focus on his meditation, on his breathing, but it was impossible. Tenten was dancing through his mind, and he felt a slight grin at the corner of his mouth.

"Neji-kun, are you okay?"

Jarred, but restraining himself from showing a reaction, Neji opened his eyes to stare up at her, almost breathless at her beauty. "Yes, Tenten, I am fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're just... Iunno, a little different lately, is all." Tenten said, kneeling across from him in that casual way of she had. A moment of silence passed between them and then Tenten raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you think was the real reason Naruto wasn't there?"

"He was training," Neji answered simply, thankful that he had something to keep his mind off her and her nearness. "Obviously, he was in a place that he could not return from, and, most likely, he was absorbed in training."

"Yeah, true... He does seem the type," Tenten said thoughtfully, seemingly unaware of his attention. "Still, he's pretty strong. Kind of like Lee. I mean, they're both orphans, and they're both making their own way."

"There are similarities," Neji allowed, closing his eyes. "Though you, too, are making your own way, despite your family."

"Yeah," Tenten said in a low tone.

"You have come a long way," Neji said sincerely, offering her a small nod.

"Thanks," Tenten managed, cheeks tinging red slightly.

Neji changed topics, aware of how close he had strayed to close to certain emotions. "However, Uzumaki-san and Lee do differ in one area. Lee came from a known family; he has a family identity to cling to."

"But Naruto doesn't."

"Exactly, Uzumaki-san has no connections to any family. He has no history, no guidance outside of his sensei. Yet, he has proven himself more than equal to any Hyūga or Uchiha. He has risen to an unbelievable height seemingly from nowhere."

"Sounds like you respect him," Tenten said, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe even a bit jealous?"

"Respect? Yes, it would be foolish not to respect his strength. Much as it is foolish to not respect a tiger," Neji explained, closing his eyes. "However, I am not jealous. His strength is dangerous: Without a Clan identity to guide him, there is no telling what will happen."

"... Are you actually worried?" Tenten questioned nervously.

"Hai. He is likely to crumble under the weight of his own strength."

"You raise several good points," Tenten said with a small grin. "However, you still haven't kissed me."

"What are yo-meph!" Neji managed, totally off guard as Tenten leaned forward and kissed him.

When she broke the kiss and sat back, she had a wide grin on her face and a knowing sparkle in her eyes. "Now, next time, you have to kiss me," Tenten teased and then, climbing to her feet, she turned back to her weapons training.

Neji stared after her, then absently reached up to touch his lips. "Gladly," he whispered, then, cupping his hands, returned to his futile efforts at meditation.

* * *

"Gah!" Naruto cried as he collapsed in a heap yet again.

His heart was racing wildly, his hand no longer even able to ache. It felt like the nerves had been damaged beyond repair, but he knew that if he waited a minute or so they would be fine. Still, two weeks of this torture, two weeks of just trying to pop one stupid rubber ball.

He was just wasting chakra, no matter how much he poured into the damn thing. Plus, that stupid concentration mark wasn't helping either.

"This has to be the limit," Naruto murmured to himself as he rolled over onto his back to try and ease his breathing. Drifting for a moment, his eyes closed, until he felt something settle on his forehead. Opening his eyes, he reached up to discover that it was a leaf, which prompted him to chuckle as he stared at it sightlessly for several long minutes, remembering the academy.

Iruka had tried so hard to teach him concentration. He could even vaguely remember the story of the leaf. "Heh, I should have listened to Iruka-sensei back then..."

Closing his eyes, Naruto knew that he probably would stand a better chance of concentrating if it wasn't for the pain. It was like every time he let his chakra flow unchecked, the pain got worse, and it destroyed his concentration. He had to increase his chakra until it explod- Suddenly he sat up, eyes wide, as his mind latched onto a solution.

The pain was the key! If he increased his chakra right up to his threshold and maintained it there, he could concentrate. He had the answer! Getting to his feet hurriedly, the blond clutched the ball tightly in his hands and closed his eyes, building his chakra, while chanting 'concentrate' silently to himself.

It started small, stinging in his arms. Then, sharper stabs. The pain grew and grew, telling him that he was close because he never once stopped concentrating.

"Not yet," he murmured, feeling the pain grow closer to what he sought. Eyes now clenched, he screwed up every ounce of his concentration on swirling the chakra in his hands wildly.

"Gahhhhh!" Naruto shouted, eyes snapping open as the ball exploded. The force of the explosion lifted him off his feet and sent him hurtling backwards until he crashed to the ground on his side and skidded to a stop against Jiraiya's leg. Breathing heavily, unable even to see clearly, Naruto still grinned.

He'd done it!

"Second stage mastered..." Jiraiya said, a worried frown on his face.

"Hahahaha," Naruto managed, focusing his eyes on the man. He was far too giddy with excitement stop and care why the man was looking worried. "Let's get the third stage going now!"

"Not right now; you need to rest... We'll get some ramen."

At the mere mention of his precious ramen, Naruto was on his feet and running, a cloud of dust rising behind him. He had been doing a lot of training, a lot of fighting, and he had been denied the most perfect gift that the kami had ever deigned to bestow. Ramen, delicious, mouth watering, ramen!

Skidding to a halt outside of his favorite ramen stand, the blond shinobi blinked in surprise to find Jiraiya already standing there.

"What took you?"

Naruto, however, ignored this and darted into the stand happily, plopping himself down at the bar, stomach growling.

"Eh? Naruto-kun?" Ayame said startled, eyes wide. "It is you! Hey, dad! Naruto's back!"

"What?! Really?!" the old man said, coming from the back, a look of disbelief on his face. "Well, I'll be, it is him! Where've you been?"

"Ramen now," Naruto said, with a grin, "talk later!"

"Of course, of course," the old man said with a mock sigh, turning to his pots.

"So, what would you like?" Ayame asked with that soft smile she usually wore.

"Five Hokage -sized Miso Ramens, three large, two regular, and a small," Naruto said, drooling.

"Geez, are you really that hungry?" Jiraiya asked, sitting down beside him.

"What'cha talkin' about, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked in surprise. "That was just an appetizer!"

"Eh?" Jiraiya managed in surprise.

"Oi, oi, and Ayame-neechan?" Naruto said, turning back to the girl who just smiled all the more at him. "He's the grown up so he's paying, neh?"

"Of course," Ayame agreed happily.

"SAY WHAT?!" Jiraiya bellowed. "I AM NOT GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR-"

"B-but how can you not?" Ayame said, pouting cutely, much like she usually did whenever Iruka started questioning his decision in treating Naruto to lunch.

"...Not that," Jiraiya whimpered. "Anything but the puppy dog look..."

Ayame jutted her lip out adorably and somehow her eyes got twice as pleading. "Pwetty pwease? Naruto-kun deserves it... For me?"

"...okay," Jiraiya said in utter defeat, just like Iruka.

"YES! Oi, old man, add a couple of number sevens and eights to that first order!" Naruto cheered, even as the first bowl was placed before him. After offering up a tearful thanks, Naruto set about satisfying his lust for ramen in a typical feeding frenzy.

Three hours later, a very happy Ayame and an ecstatic old man waved a sated Naruto and crying old pervert from their now- closed stand.

"Oi, that was great!" Naruto said happily, hands behind his head. "Thanks for treating me..."

"...How in the hell," Jiraiya managed thickly, "can any human, even a wannabe Hokage, close a ramen stand in just three hours?! Do you realize how much you just ate? Or how much that cost me?!"

"Hehe, but I was hungry. I haven't had ramen from there in forever," Naruto said, grinning. "Oi, plus, like, it really helps them out, ya know?"

"...Not even Arashi liked those stupid mochi this much and he was always eating those every time I turned around!" Jiraiya grumbled. "Thank the kami I'll be leaving; I'd be broke in a week trying to feed you."

"Huh? You're leavin'?" Naruto asked, focusing on the man, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Not until I explain the third step," Jiraiya said, resigned, "and because the ANBU have finally found Tsunade's location. I'll have to hustle to catch her before she disappears again."

"Ahah," Naruto said, nodding seriously as his mind drifted back to the Sandaime. "So, so, what's next? You said there were three steps, right?"

"Hold on," Jiraiya said, stopping briefly to buy a pack of balloons from a vendor. Then, walking once more, he blew one up absently. Finishing, he handed it to Naruto and began blowing yet another one up.

"Another balloon?"

"The first step was to spin, the second step was power..." Jiraiya explained as they finally entered a nearby training area. Turning, he held his balloon up at eye level for Naruto. "The third step is this."

"Huh? I don't get it," Naruto said, studying the balloon intently. It looked like nothing was even happening. "What the hell, you're not doing anything!"

"Well, I suppose that's how it looks," Jiraiya said with a chuckle, before holding his other hand up. "Here, tell me what you see now."

Naruto blinked, then watched in amazement as chakra formed in the palm of his hand. Only, it was a perfect sphere, with no bumps or deformities. It was beautiful to see, like a pocket-sized typhoon, and suddenly he realized what was happening inside the balloon. "Oi, so, that's what's happening in the balloon?"

"Right in one."

Fixing his attention on the balloon, Naruto felt overwhelmed. With all that chakra spinning, the balloon wasn't even twitching. It was obvious that the sphere had way more power and speed than when he popped that rubber ball.

"Okay, listen carefully, since you'll be working on your own from now on," Jiraiya said, allowing the sphere to dissipate. "This third step is combining all you learned from the previous two, and charging it.

"Charging it?"

"Basically, you spin your chakra as fast as you can while increasing your chakra to the maximum limit," Jiraiya explained, holding the balloon up carefully. "The trick is, you have to make a wall within the balloon and concentrate your power."

"So, basically," Naruto deadpanned, "I do all the spinning and power from before, but try not to pop the balloon."

"Heh, you have gotten quicker."

"Oi, but why bother?" Naruto asked, scowling in thought. Honestly, the second step seemed pretty damn powerful already. "I mean, it's just wasted chakra, right? So, so, why bother?"

"Watch," Jiraiya said, moving to a nearby training post. He gathered his chakra, much like the second step, before slamming it against the post. The power dissipated quickly, leaving behind deep, spiraling grooves into the training post. "That was the second step. This is the third step."

A second later he shoved his hand forward, the chakra swirling into the pocket-sized typhoon as it connected with the post. This was followed by a cracking sound and then the training post exploded into splinters.

Covering his face, Naruto flinched back from the reaction. Recovering, Naruto lowered his harms, staring with wide eyes at what remained of the post, then looked at the man. "Whoa!"

"See, if you can keep that 'typhoon' of chakra in a sphere, the power doesn't scatter," Jiraiya said with a nod. "The power becomes concentrated to an extremely high level."

Looking at the balloon he was still holding, he narrowed his eyes before grinning thinly. This was it, the big step, and it was going to be hard. Naruto wouldn't give up; this was, for all intents and purposes, a family technique, and however he may have felt about the Yondaime, he wanted some connection to him. "I can do this."

"Good. Now, practice every chance you get. This step can be done walking down the street, eating, just sitting around..." Jiraiya admitted, picking up his scroll and looking at Naruto. "Remember, this is an extremely powerful jutsu. Don't use it lightly."

"Oi, do you have to leave right now?"

"Tsunade-hime won't stay in one place for long, and the ANBU have been working hard to find her. I can't waste any time. You've got the jutsu; now you just have to master it."

"Aright," Naruto said, then, grasping the balloon in his hands, began concentrating. Everything else was secondary right now; all that mattered was completing this jutsu.

* * *

A soft swish of noise, branches creaking and leaves rustling. A glint of bone-white porcelain in the moonlight. A lingering baleful aura filling the night as it came to rest on a telephone pole high over the Uchiha district.

Crouching down, the armored figure tensed, then relaxed.

Uchiha Itachi was considered the Clan's golden boy, he was a genuis among genuises. Graduated at the top of his Academy class at age seven, had mastered the Sharingan by age eight, became a Chūnin at ten, and became an ANBU squad captain at the age of thirteen.

Of course, as his mother had pointed out recently, that was nothing impressive.

Sasuke, who had graduated at tweleve, by all rights should have graduated equally early. However, times had changed and early graduation was no longer allowed, even for genuises. Itachi however, ignored this as Sasuke was and always would be, their mother's favorite.

Instead he focused on something much more important, just how much longer he could delay the inevitable. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and reopened them, Sharingan evolving into three elongated swirls before stalling. Everything was clearer, sharper, brighter, but ultimately no different.

He felt a spike of mild frustration at that, still just on the cusp of his final step toward maximum capcity. Silently, he allowed his eyes return to normal and stared down into the silent streets beneath him. It had been this way since the death of Shisui, so close and yet so far.

He had pondered the problem for a long time and had only recently begun to realize the solution. The first part of it was the simple fact that Itachi had not cared for Shisui very much, nor feared his death. Hence it had only nudged his Sharingan forward, frustating him to no end.

The second part was capcity, Itachi was coming to understand that while he had an unbelievable large chakra capcity, the Mangekyou probaby required an even larger one. So he had been building up his capacity, doubling then tripling it, until he felt the maxmium effect.

The third and final part was how, exactly, to finish the development of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Forcing it was pointless and did more harm than good, which made him realize that he would merely have to find someone else. Who, exactly that would be he had no idea, Itachi after all did not feel close to anyone.

Still, he had not given up on this. After deep consideration, thought and rereading the of the Uchiha Clan scoll, he had come to the solution. With his capacity at is peek, the answer was simply to kill all of them. Every last Uchiha, the entire clan, until his eye made its final evolution.

That solution however, had been placed on hold, at first because doing so would leave him with no place to go and further his goals. But with Orochimaru's offer, signified by the Suzaku ring he now wore, that was no longer the case. No now he hesitated only becasue of how many high level ninja were active at the moment, not the least of which was Jiriaya of the Sannin.

Itachi was no fool, any man that had completed one hundred and thirty-eight S-rank missions was not one to risk fighting before he evolved his eye completely. Still this had not meant Itachi was doing nothing, he had taken advantage of the Unity affair and removed all those Uchiha that lived outside the compound. Distant aunts, uncles and cousins who could never develop or pass along the Sharingan.

Now with Jiriaya finally leaving the village, along with the other high level ninja easing up and lowering their guards, Itachi knew his time to strike was approaching. The Mangekyou was perfect for his goals, and he would willingly sacrifice all of them until he found the one to grant it to him.

Just a week left, a week before he was to offer his answer to Orochimaru and join Akatsuki, a week until his capacity was just that much clearer, that much larger. All that was required of him, Uchiha Itachi, was the total errdication of his clan and leaving his brother alive for whatever twisted goals Orochimaru had in mind.

Unless Sasuke was needed, Itachi silently amended. If Sasuke's life was needed to evolve his eyes, then Orochimaru would be denied that boy. Yet it didn't matter; all that did was achieving his goals.

A cloud drifted over the moon, and, when it passed, Uchiha Itachi was nowhere to be found.

_...five minutes to midnight and counting..._

* * *

**AN:**

I extended the opening from the orginal version. Basically, I added the whole Kyubi scene just for this update...and no it wasn't actually a visit with the Kyubi. More like it was using the only access it still had, Naruto's dreams, to fuck with the boys head.


	24. Chapter 23: Nenshou Uchiwa

**Naruto**: Altered History  
Chapter 23:  
-_Nenshou Uchiwa_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

There were certain, unavoidable facts that everyone had to accept. For Uzumaki Naruto, it was the fact that he needed to reenter the village proper and buy a new jacket. His old one was shredded. Patched, but shredded. Also, he was hungry, and, really, his training was now, by all accounts, to the point that he could do it as he went about his business.

Hence, his total concentration on the balloon in his hand as he strolled down the street, unaware of the attention he was gaining. Not that it would have mattered to him; Naurto was used to attention. Of course, that was the attention of a troublemaker or an enemy plant. The attention he was currently receiving was just a step beneath hero worship.

Thankfully, Naruto was, indeed, oblivious to this... For the moment, at least.

He was doing pretty well, or at least he felt like he was. So far, he had managed to keep this balloon from popping. He didn't even want to think about how many others he'd wasted since Ero-sennin had left yesterday. Plus, he had learned something pretty impressive: once he got the bubble of chakra formed around the swirling chaos, he could maintain it with one hand... for a few seconds, at least.

This was proven a moment later as he finally removed his hand and attempted to keep it working with one hand. It lasted for a full ten seconds before it went 'pop', fluttering, his clothes and rocking a few hanging signs. Sighing, he pocketed the broken balloon and produced a new one, resuming his training, before a hand landed on his shoulder.

Jerking Naruto turned, ready to fight. Instead, he was brought up short by Kakashi, who had his infamous red book in hand and open.

"Just the ninja I wanted to see," Kakashi said, his eye curving upward happily.

"Er...why?"

"Well, first, to congratulate you on becoming a Chūnin-"

"Wait, what?" Naruto interrupted, eyes wide, and the balloon in his hands trembling as he lost focus.

"...didn't anyone tell you?" Kakashi asked as his eye drooped. "You were promoted to Chūnin. There weren't very many of you this time aro-"

"I'm a CHŪNIN?!" Naruto shouted, his balloon exploding forcefully. The blond ignored that and was now jumping around, screaming and causing all sort of havoc in the street. He couldn't believe it; he had made it! He was a Chūnin now, and that meant he was officially one step closer to being Hokage.

Halfway through his celebration and plans for a gorging on ramen, he realized that nobody had bothered telling him about this before now. Stopping, he looked at the white-haired man, frowning with narrowed eyes. "Oi, how long have I been a Chūnin?"

"Hmm, a while now," Kakashi admitted, looking up from his little red book. "Is something wrong?"

Naruto, however, shook his head, keeping his face neutral. Internally, however, he was ranting and raving and, most importantly plotting, his pay back. Someone should have told him. He could over look Kakashi and Jiraiya merely because they had things to do with keeping the Village functioning, but Ino and Shino? Oh, they were so going to get it... and Anko was definitely going to regret not telling him.

"Well, anyway," Kakashi continued, his eye curving upward once more. "Congratulations on the promotion. As for the other reason I wanted to see you, I learned from Anko that your apartment was the one destroyed in the battle with Gaara."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a scowl, turning his mind toward that problem. "All my stuff and everything..."

"Well, Anko managed to get a few things out, and I arranged to have them put some place interesting," Kakashi paused, putting his book up. "It's sort of a reward for saving the village."

"Really?" Naruto managed, eyes lighting up. He was getting a reward for saving the village? Probably some new apartment, which would be great!

"Yep, just follow me," Kakashi said before taking off at a casual pace.

Naruto quickly followed, mind churning as he searched his pockets before blowing up yet another balloon. That done, he began concentrating yet again, picking up the pace as Kakashi did. Several minutes later, Naruto was beginning to appreciate just how big Konoha actually was.

They had passed through the more upscale areas, then through the market place, before finally entering a section that seemed to be nothing but forest. Then, finally, they exited that and came to a section of the village that was pleasant. No sign of ninja. No sign of any hostility, actually.

Each home was a two-story deal, a blend between traditional and modern. Same basic layout, from what Naruto could tell: the picture-perfect neighborhood. Hell, the people were going about their daily lives with smiles on their faces, not even caring that there were two ninja strolling down the street.

"Not many ninja come through here," Kakashi explained. "This used to be ANBU housing, where families of ANBU members lived. Eventually, we moved them out, and regular villagers moved in. They have their own community and very rarely venture into the main areas of Konoha."

"Oi, it seems different here," Naruto said, looking around, surprised to find a group of girls his age watching his progress with the sort of interest he normally associated with Sasuke-fangirls.

"Well, of course it does," Kakashi said. "These are all civilians, Naruto; they don't know much of anything that goes on in the rest of Konoha, and they're not overly interested in hearing about it. They want nice, simple lives... Which most ninja find utterly boring."

"Oh," Naruto said, glancing to his left, where he found a small child playing with a dog. "So, there's someplace I can stay?"

"Yeah, used to be a kind of lookout station against Iwa back during the last Ninja War. It was abandoned a little after that war ended; outdated, really. It's where I had your stuff put, only available location."

Without further ado, they came to a stop just on the outside of the neighborhood they had been travelling through, which meant they were facing the side of the smaller mountain and were surrounded by several trees. Turning back, Naruto could still make out the villagers as they went about their lives.

"Okay," Naruto said, looking around carefully. "I don't see anyplace I can stay."

Kakashi, however, merely pointed his finger skyward. Naruto blinked, then craned his neck to see what the masked man had to show him, and he nearly toppled over. Maybe twenty feet over head was a round, two-story building, topped with a connical roof. It was suspended in the air by four slanted beams that ran from the mountain to the underside of the building.

"Wha?" Naruto managed, taking a step back to try and get a better view of the building.

"The entire top floor was designed to serve as a training area. The bottom floor is mostly living space, plenty of room."

"Okay..." Naruto said slowly as he glanced at the masked man. "And you're just going to let me live here?"

"Yes," Kakashi said simply.

"Why?"

"Because you sorta own it," Kakashi chuckled. "Sensei, the Yondaime, bought it shortly after the war and did some renovations to make it livable. He liked the peace living here among the villagers gave him. It was his fortress of solitude, I guess."

"And... I own it?" Naruto repeated blankly, knowing that he was missing something obvious. You didn't just give away houses, especially not this type of place.

"Well, I figure better you than someone else. Besides, I never come out here," Kakashi said, handing over the keys and the deed. "Just be careful; the Sandaime didn't remove some things for security reasons. There's no telling what you'll find in there."

Naruto nodded, then looked up at the building, overwhelmed with the knowledge of owning it. Not only a building, but of own his _families_ house. He had inherited something, which was just freaky for an orphan. And then, Naruto's mind stumbled across a rather disturbing problem.

"Oi, how the hell do I get up there?!"

"Shunshin."

* * *

Listening to the ticking clock, Ino sighed and glanced at her mom, who was busy fussing over the flowers. For a while, right after the Chūnin exams, things had been busy, but now it was painfully boring. Rolling her eyes, utterly bored, Ino turned back to her notebook and the notes it contained.

Studying her handwriting, along with Sakura's notes, Ino mused over the explanation for the Shuushuku Kitei silently. Since her Shintenshin had improved, thanks to her father finally walking her through the finer points, she didn't feel guilty about looking at the Genjutsu. Secretly, Ino even felt that she was close to being able to perform the Shinranshin, but she wasn't going to push it too much.

Scratching the back of her hand, Ino nodded to herself. The concept was easy enough; maybe she should try it? Remembering her father's warning about not using it until she had more practice with the others, Ino decided trying it in the family shop would not be a good idea. Besides, she wanted to let her arm heal completely so she could work it into her training routine along with Kenjutsu.

Her fingers twitched just thinking about the kodachi that had been delievered to her a few days ago. The old man, Kawakami Musashi, had told her that Hayate had special ordered it for her. "Tsukiha," Ino murmured fondly, seeing the crane handguard and the reversed handle as clearly as ever. Added to her anxiousness to resume her training were the scroll's that Yugao had dropped off a day after she had received her sword.

Ino had read the first one and knew that the others contained further knowledge of his Kenjutsu, a kenjutsu that he now left in her hands. Hayate had given her so much, helped her find her own path, and there was a dull throb as she realized he was gone.

Startled out of her thoughts about the blade and her former sensei by the sound of a jingling bell, she grumbled. Looking up, ready to greet the new customer, she froze, discovering one Uzumaki Naruto standing in the doorway. He was looking around curiously, a balloon in his hand, a grin on his face, and wearing a tattered jacket.

It struck Ino as odd that, after not seeing him for nearly a month, he should just wander into her flower shop.

"Oi, Ino-chan!" Naruto said, starting toward her, his grin growing.

"Huh? Ino, you know him?" her mom asked, pausing in watering the flowers to watch the boy curiously.

"Yeah," Ino said blinking. "Naruto-kun, where have you been? The whole village's been crazy trying to find you and stuff, plus you just left without tell m-us anything! Anko-sensei wouldn't even tell us, either! Just had us training every morning."

"Oi, I was training, too!" Naruto said happily, holding his balloon up. "See?"

"Er..." Ino stared at the balloon blankly, but decided to take his word for it.

"Wait, so this is the Naruto I've heard about?" her mother asked brightly, and Ino saw the look in her eyes. "Well, since he turned up, I'm sure he won't mind helping Inoichi out in back!"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, obviously trying to figure out how that worked.

"Just go on back, dear," her mom said, shoving the blond from behind so that he stumbled past the counter and into the hallway connecting to the back room.

"Mom!" Ino hissed, glaring at the now-bemused woman, who was tapping her finger against her cheek. "What are you doing?!"

"Nothing," her mom said defensively, despite a knowing glint in her eye. "You are bored here, right? Maybe you'd like to go out for lunch?"

"Moooom," Ino pleaded, almost afraid of what the woman was thinking. "He's just my friend!"

"I never said he wasn't."

"But you're trying to get him and me to go out together for lunch," Ino huffed, stomping a foot.

"I am doing no such thing," her mom said, grinning as the sounds of shattering glass and curses drifted from the back room. "I just asked if you'd like some lunch."

"JUST GO!" Inoichi's voice suddenly shouted, amid more noise of destruction.

"OI, BUT I CAME TO SEE INO-CHAN!"

"TAKE HER WITH YOU THEN! JUST GET OUT!" Inoichi shouted back, a second before Naruto reemerged without a balloon and looking disgruntled.

"Oh dear," her mom said, hand on her cheek. "Perhaps you two should leave, maybe get some lunch? When Inoichi gets like this..."

"Mom!" Ino said accusingly, but the older woman merely smiled sweetly. Naruto, utterly clueless to what had transpired, was quickly ushered out the door by a furious Ino. She knew it would be pointless to argue with her mom right then, but this was so not the last of it.

Shooting one last, dark glare, at her cheerful mom, Ino stepped outside to join Naruto.

Self- consciously adjusting the sling her arm was resting in, Ino sighed. Her mom could be such a pain, sometimes. Honestly, she and Naruto were just friends, team mates. Still, lunch would be nice, and she hadn't seen him for a while; maybe going out for lunch wasn't such a bad idea. "So, where should we go eat?"

"Ichiraku!" Naruto shouted eagerly, eyes alight.

"Again?" Ino said, staring at him startled. "Don't you ever eat anything else?"

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, setting off at a brisk pace. "Ramen is the perfect food! Oi, and it has all these toppings! Fried rice, Chinese dumplings, seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and even corn! Plus miso and pork, which is one of my favorites!"

Ino felt herself blush slightly at that, though she couldn't think of a reason why. Shaking it off, she grabbed his arm and jerked him to a stop. "How about I pick today, okay? I know this place where they serve tea and good salads-"

"Yuck!" Naruto said, scrunching his face up.

"They're not that bad," Ino said with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, it'd be good for you to eat something else. Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Oi, but I don't need to get any fonder of it," Naruto said sulkily. "Besides, ramen's never hurt me!"

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the reason you're a midget is 'cause you never eat anything but ramen?" Ino snapped back irritably, then almost winced, realizing what she had said.

"Oi, and maybe the reason you don't have tits is 'cause all you ever eat is vegetables?!" Naruto snapped back, glaring at her. Ino rounded on him, surprised that he was able to match her glare for glare.

Any further arguement was cut short by a loud and horribly familiar voice. "Naruto! Ino!"

Turning, Ino winced as Kiba and Akamaru trotted up, along with Yobun, the village's biggest gossip. Kami, this was not good; that girl would blow this whole situation way out of proportion.

"Oi, Kiba!" Naruto said brightly, apparently clueless as to who the girl was. "You two out on a date?"

"Hehehe, what can I say? It's animal magnetism." Kiba chuckled, dodging a swipe from girl beside him.

"I'll have you know, I asked him to help me find my little sister." Yobun said, glancing between them. "Speaking of dates-"

"-which this isn't." Ino interjected firmly. "We're on the same team; it's not strange for us to hang out together."

"So, Naruto's still available?" Yobun asked, giving him an appraising once over. "Would you like to go get something to eat?"

"Huh?" Naruto managed, blinking. "Er... Well, I was sorta going-"

"Naruto-kun, why don't you go on ahead? That place I was telling about is just down the street," Ino interrupted hastily, knowing the glint in the other girl's eyes. Naruto, royally confused, shrugged and turning started off on his own.

"What was that about?" Kiba asked, almost as confused as the blonde young man.

"Listen, Kiba, why don't you keep looking around?" Yobun said sweetly.

"Eh?"

"Just go," Ino snapped, not looking away from the other girl.

"Err... Okay," Kiba said, going off on his own, muttering about crazy girls.

"So," Yobun said slyly.

"Back off," Ino said curtly. "You really don't want to get involved. All of you fan girls make me sick. When he wasn't known for saving the village, none of you wanted anything to do with him, and now-"

"Oh, look who's talking!" Yobun said heatedly. "You used to fawn all over Sasuke, remember? I'm sure your new boyfriend there is really naive enough to think you've actually changed."

Ino paused, feeling as if she had been slapped, then narrowed her eyes. "First, he's not my boyfriend. Second, when I fawned all over Sasuke, I was a stupid little bitch! Unlike you and all these other girls that apparently never got the damn memo to grow up!"

That said, Ino rounded on her heel and stormed off. That had felt pretty damn good, that was for sure. Picking up the pace, she spotted a confused Naruto, who was surrounded by several giggling girls.

"Ugh!" Ino managed, grinding her teeth as she stormed up and pulled the boy away. Was it too much to ask for a few minutes alone with Naruto? Shaking her head in annoyance, she led the still confused- Naruto into the Konoha Tea Avenue.

"Oi, I didn't know you could see the Hokage Mountain from here," Naruto said brightly, gazing up at the faces. "Awesome!"

"Yeah, it's a great view," Ino muttered, dragging the boy into the nearest Tea Café. The place was a bit crowded, but Ino managed to snag them a table. Keeping in mind Naruto and his fixation on the Hokages, she made sure to pick one that they could see the Hokage Mountain from.

"So, so," Naruto said, glancing around, then at her. "Do I _gotta_ order vegetables?"

"What is your problem with them?" Ino asked in exasperation.

"They're EVIL!" Naruto said heatedly, crossing his arms. "Didn't you see the news report where those giant tomatoes went on a rampage and started eating people!?"

"Er..." Ino blinked, then hurriedly flagged down a waitress. "Jasmine tea."

"And for you?" the woman asked glancing at Naruto, then doing a double-take when she realized who she was talking to.

"Er... Iunno, green tea, I guess."

"R-right, of course!" the waitress managed before hurrying off.

"Oi, so anyway, do I really gotta-"

"Yes," Ino said in exasperation. "You do. Now, get over it and look at your menu."

Seeing his pout, Ino rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to slap him upside the head. It wouldn't look good, she told herself. Slapping a village hero over his problem with vegetables would not be smart.

Besides, at least he was willing to eat something other than ramen for her. That had been nothing short of a miracle, and she knew it. Taking the tea from a nervous waitress a moment later, Ino resigned herself to dealing with that reaction from now on when hanging out with Naruto.

"S-so, what would you like for lunch?" the waitress stammered.

"Salad, no dressing," Ino ordered, glancing at Naruto curiously. The blond was scowling as he skimmed the menu before snapping his fingers and grinning.

"Oi, oi, how about a large vegetarian noodle soup?" Naruto said, glancing up at the waitress with a grin. "With an extra order of noodles?"

"O-of course," the woman said, hurrying off once more.

Ino sighed, then rubbed her temples. Well at least it wasn't ramen.

* * *

Staring out from the small room adjoining Fugaku's private office over the small garden, which was enclosed by the homes inner wall, Uchiha Mikoto silently waited for the girl to settle in. Hearing the girl finally finish the Uchiha Matriarch turned her attention to the girl, smiling gently to ease her nerves.

Uchiha Mikomi was from a ditant branch of the family, considered almost a black sheep as Uchiha women went. At fourteen she was both pretty and very tempermental, demanding to be treated equal to the male Uchiha members. Mikoto smiled to herself, the girl was a very good choice for the plan the elders had created.

The girl was of course, a Chūnin which meant she was strong. She had also managed to attain a two-tomoe sharingan, which was very rare for the females of the clan. With her temperment, which from Mikoto's observations seemed the type to attract Naruto, she would be perfect.

"Tea, Mikomi-chan?"

"Thank you, yes, thank you, Mikoto-sama." the younger girl said with a slight bow, obviously pleased and honored to be meeting with her.

Mikoto nodded slightly, gesturing for the maid to pour the drinks and then dismissed her casually. Gesturing gracefully at the steaming cup of tea, Mikoto selected her own. Both women drank silently, Mikomi obviously caught up in the mystery of it all, while Mikoto braced herself to preform this task.

"These are really lovely cups, so elegant," Mikomi said after a moment, looking at the older woman curiously. "May I ask why exactly you sent for me? Mom didn't explain, just that I should come here immediately."

"Ah, yes, the reason I called you here," Mikoto said, with a prolonged pause. "Before that however, peraphs you could tell me what you think of Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Oh him?" the girl said, her tone suddenly interested. "Well, he's strong for a non-Uchiha obviously and rumor has it he's very loyal..."

"Oh ko," Mikoto said with a small grin, knowing that loyalty was a strong selling point even among the females of the clan.

"Several girls have developed a crush on him, I...uhm, well..." Mikomi paused, blushing slightly.

"Don't feel guilty, that is actually a good thing," Mikoto said sighing as she set her tea cup down. "The Clan has decided we would like to bring the Uzumaki into the fold. He has a unqiue condition that could prove useful if mixed with our own and as such we are searching for the proper girl for this task."

"Task? Proper girl?" Mikomi echoed, then looked shocked. "I-You wish to...to arrange a marraige between him and myself?"

"Well, not as such seeing as he has no Clan to deal with." Mikoto clarfied, noting the girls sudden relief. "All we require at the moment is that you seek to develop a relationship with him. Of course there are now other girls from the various clans that will be vying for his attention, though from what we can tell you only need concern yourself with the Yamanaka girl."

"I-I see..." Mikomi murmured, sounding unsure and looking at the cup of tea gulped audiably "W-what if I refuse? I mean, not that he couldn't be intersting to date, but well...I don't like being used as an object. I'm a human being after all, it should be my decision."

"I agree," the Uchiha Matriarch said seriously. "If it were my decision I would of course, leave it to you. However, it is not my decision, I have been ordered to find a suitable girl for this task. Therefore I must order you to begin this task, however I can give you time to consider the task."

"So...if I dicide to say no, I don't have to do it?"

"I believe that is what I said," Mikoto said raising an eyebrow "however, why should you say no? Do you disturst the wisdom of our Elders? Or of my husband?"

"N-no, of course not!"

"Perhaps you doubt my judgement?"

"That's not it!" Mikomi said waving her hands before her. "It's just that, being ordered to do this makes me feel like an animal! I'm a human being, my own person, its hard to accept this Mikoto-sama! That's all, if I could have time to think, a day..."

"Very well," Mikoto allowed, nodding slightly. "You have until tomorrow to make your decision, if yes then you apply youself with all of your cunning. If no, then, we will see what happens..."

"H-hai!"

* * *

Noga followed Heian along the corridor, feeling confident despite his gloved hand. The air was cool, almost damp, and it reminded him of the rains. It had been a week since Hittori had called him to the capital, and after numerous cancelled meetings, Noga was finally going to speak with his brother. Turning his mind away from such thoughts, he mused about his mother's mysterious disappearance.

She had been so pleased with his initiative, and with how nicely he had handled all the small details that had come up. Her disappearance yesterday had thrown him into disarray, but he hadn't had time to send searchers out. They turned another corner and, unexpectedly, Heian opened an iron-bound, reinforced door and led the way up to the inner room.

Noting the samurai and ninja, Noga felt slightly nervous, but marked it off as nothing more than nerves. Crossing the inner room quietly, he braced himself as Heian opened the last door and ushered him inside. The room was exactly as he remembered it: dotting the walls were wall hangings depicting the standard half crescent green and black symbol of the Kusa Daimyo.

At the far end of the office sat an ancient wooden desk, and behind it rested a massive chair that was more like a throne than anything else. Eyes sweeping the room, he found his brother standing before a rack of scrolls, hands clasped behind his back. Noga smirked to himself.

His brother had always been interested in reading and learning. Moving as if to join the man, he froze as Hittori spoke.

"Ah, Noga-niisan. It s a pleasure to see you. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Regent-sama," Noga said carefully, aware of the danger he was now in. His brother was never that polite unless he was angry, and when Hittori got angry he became as treacherous as a cobra.

"Oh, no need for formalities," Hittori said, smiling fondly as he turned to face Noga. "After all, we _are_ brothers, correct?"

"Yes, of course," Noga agreed, watching the man like a hawk.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Hittori said pleasantly, ringing a small bell. A moment later an, unnoticeable inner door on the left opened, allowing a young woman to enter.

Noga did a double take; she was very attractive, with long brown hair and blue eyes. Her lips were highlighted seductively with red, and she wore, of all things, a kimono that was far too small and revealed a fading Cloud ANBU tattoo on the visible part of her breast.

"Ah, Sazu-chan. Noga-niisan, this my lady, Sazuko," Hittori said conversationally as the woman slinked into the room, carrying a tray of tea. "Sazu-chan, this is Noga-niisan, who has helped me immeasurably."

"Hello," Sazuko said in a rather shy fashion as she began pouring the tea for them. Finished, she flashed Noga a flirtatious smile and then, turning, slipped out of the room.

Noga stared after her, as if hypnotized and then, snapping out of it, focused once more on Hittori. The Regent smiled and politely offered Noga the first cup of tea, which was the proper thing to do. Noga wisely declined, then watched with rapt attention as Hittori drank.

Seeing no treachery there, the ninja carefully collected the second cup and took a sip.

"So, maybe you are wondering why I brought you in today," Hittori said after a moment before moving around his desk to sit down and lace his fingers together on the surface. "Well, it would be a very wise thing to wonder."

"I trust you," Noga said, preparing for the treachery in store.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Hittori agreed lightly, smiling. "Yes, I, too, trust you. For instance, I trust that you were not manipulated into wasting my carefully laid plans. I trust that you understand just how dangerous it is in these times, which also means I trust you understand why I've placed your revered mother under my personal protection."

Noga stiffened, staring at his brother calculatingly. "She is where?"

"Safely tucked away in one of my private homes," Hittori said, nodding. "After all, if our father, the Daimyo, could be betrayed by his own ninja..."

"I thought the Rain-"

"Oh, didn't you hear? The Rain were aided by the Kusa Sousui, who, of course, has now been executed," Hittori said seriously, eyes darkening. "Betrayal must receive its just reward, after all, and soon, Rain will know the price for this unprovoked assassination of our father."

"Hittori," Noga said slowly, wondering at this act. "You do know that I-"

"Acted in the best interests of our country," Hittori said curtly. "Oh yes, I know all about you rushing my plans. I understand very clearly, _brother_, why you decided to act when you acted. However, it is easily handled, and, in the end, we achieved the same results."

"...Of course," Noga said uneasily.

"Now, onto why I wanted to see you today," Hittori said, producing a scroll. "This is an order, one that you must bear to Kusa, appointing a new Sousui and new procedures I have in mind to ensure another such betrayal will never occur."

Noga nodded silently, thankful for being allowed to live, then took the scroll. Hittori smiled politely and then produced another scroll. "This scroll contains your new assignment. You'll be going west to a hidden base where I have a new force gathering. Once there, you'll receive further orders."

"Anything else?" Noga asked as he took the second scroll and rose.

"Just one more thing," Hittori said without standing or allowing his pleasant attitude to slip. "If you ever act as you did in such a way as you have previously, please keep in mind there are far **worse** things than death."

"Hai," Noga agreed, bowing slightly and then, turning, hurried from the room, aware of just how close he had come to being murdered.

* * *

Looking up from his paperwork, Uchiha Tekka paused, a slight frown forming. Glancing at the clock, he looked back around, suddenly aware of just how late and alone he was. It felt, almost, as if something ominous was coming toward him and he truly did not like the feeling.

It was probably just paranoia, ever since the Unity mess all the Uchiha on the Military Police had been feeling it. They had made up the bulk of the force after all and now, sadly, most had been killed in the fighting. Those that hadn't had been wounded bad enough to merit treatment and medical leave.

Shaking it off, Tekka leaned back in his chair and sighed rubbing hs eyes tiredly. Maybe he should call it a night and go home, but that would leave Inabi and Yashiro alone. There had to be at least three Police on duty at all times, espically now with things stretched so thin.

A sudden noise made him jerk upright, his nerves warning him of danger. Frowning he eased his way around his desk and stopped in the middle of the floor. Waiting, ready for whatever it was that was threatening him. A second later he heard the noise again and this time realized it was footsteps.

An even gait, someone in their late teen's from the rythm.

Turning to the open doorway he raised an eyebrow watching the shadowy figure approach, the occasional glint of light off the armor told him it was an ANBU. When the figure reached the doorway Tekka let out a breath, realizing that was just Itachi. Normally Tekka found the boy unnerving but now he felt relieved, it _had_ just been his paranoia.

"Itachi-san, what brings you by?" Tekka asked, striding toward the younger man.

"I came to see who was here," Itachi said blathely, bringing Tekka to a stop.

Now that he was closer, he could see blood flecking the boy's cheek and armor. Alarm bells went off in the older Uchiha's head, and he silently prepared for a fight. Itachi seemed completely unbothered by this prospect instead turning away ever so slightly.

"Looks like you had a hard mission."

"It was a test," Itachi said without emotion "to judge my capacity."

"How about we go talk with Inabi or Yashiro?"

"They've already misjudged their capcity," Itachi responded prompting Tekka to charge, shuriken and kunai flying at his enemy. Itachi dodged the hail of weapons easily, then casually lifted an arm to allow the last one to rechocet off his forearm protector.

Tekka however took advantage of the distraction and closed the gap between them, a round-kick whistling through the air. Itachi ducked followed by a leg sweep, but Tekka somersaulted away only to recieve a kick to the stomach. Stumbling back, winded, the Military Police officer dodged a kick to his face only to receive one to the ribs.

Moving with the force of the blow Tekka threw a hook punch, only to have his arm caught followed by being thrown onto the top of a nearby desk. There was a loud crack as the desk gave under the weight, but Tekka was already scrambling to his feet only to receive a kick to the back which sent him slamming into the side of another desk.

Spinning quickly Tekka prepared to launch his own assualt, only to discover Itachi lunging for his chest with his sword. Grasping a kunai Tekka parried the stab and fired a straight punch at the ANBU Captain's face, only to have Itachi neatly avoid it with a spin, which brought him around to Tekka'ss now exposed back.

A second later Tekka felt the sharp pain of a blade piercing his chest from behind, looking down in disbelief, his Sharingan faded and he clutched at the bloody metal. A gurgle later he slumped to the ground dead in a pool of blood, the last sound he heard that of a Kage Bunshin disappearing.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi stood motionlessly in the street, staring the wall and gate that seperated the Uchiha district from the rest of Konoha. It had been one the few demands they had made during the unifcation of Konoha. A seperate district, with seals to ensure their privacey. Brilliant in its concept, and now about to turn horribly against them.

Watching the two black flags that sported the red and white Uchiha fan symbol flutter over the gate in the early evening breeze Itachi felt the two dozen Kage Bunshin he had sent out disapating. It took him a moment to sort through the information, so many faces and other minor details, but it was now confirmed.

The last Uchiha within the village, besides his brother who was training, were all gathered within this district.

Satsified he quietly passed through the gate and stopped long enough to ease it shut. The streets beyond were nearly deserted, he could see the odd person out running a few last minute errands. For the most part however, it struck Itachi at just how lazy they had all become.

Spotting the Uchiha Senbei he decided that would be as good a place as any to start. Moving silently he apporached the food store, eyes darting from his portly middle-aged aunt named Uchiha Uruchi to his smiling uncle Teyaki who was busy reading a paper. The picture perfect middle-aged couple, they were his godparents and they adored him and Sasuke.

He could remember them being so proud of him when he had graduated, bragged and given him free food. They were two of the kindest people he had ever met. That made them the most likely target's at the moment and he felt a shot of adrenline course through him.

"Ohho, it's Itachi-kun," Teyaki said looking up from his paper, his smile growing. "What brings you by today?"

"Maybe he wanted to see us dear," Uruchi said her kind face filling with a loving smile.

Itachi paused, staring at both and it was Teyaki that realized something was wrong. The old man had been a strong ninja in his day after all, he had even formed a single seal by the time Itachi reacted. There was a spray of blood as Itachi drew his sword and plunged it through the man's chest.

Then before Uruchi's scream could gain pitch, she too died, the sword now seperating her head from her shoulders.

Pausing Itachi briefly tried to evolve his eyes, but found them still stunted. Frowning he sought out more of his realtives, then snapped out of his search as he felt someone trying to kick him. Itachi twisted, efforlessly blocking and throwing two of his own punches.

The Uchiha in question ducked one, blocked the other only to have Itachi kick him in the face. Spinning quickly from the momentum, the sword whistled around to slice the man in half. Coming to a stop, Itachi hurled his free hand up and out, killing another Uchiha making a break for it with a kunai.

There was a beat, then Itachi was moving again as more Uchiha poured out into the street to face him. Blade slashing downward, Itachi cut off one's hand at the elbow. Then twirling the blade he gutted another and in the same motion, slit another's throat.

Sheathing the sword smoothly Itachi ducked a punch, twisted aside from a kick and then grabed the wrist of a punch aimed for his stomach. A second later the ANBU captain slammed home a kunai to his attackers throat, causing the man to gurgle before he collapsed.

Itachi however, did not remain standing still. He was already on the move, a kunai cutting down one attacking family member after another. The jutsu were not far behind and in the sheer chaos of the battle Itachi felt mounting frustration as each attempt at evolving his sharingan was met with failure.

Still, Uchiha Itachi would not stop until he had the Mankgeryou Sharingan.

* * *

The training field was quiet, save for the soft rustle of the grass amid the breeze. Over head, the cloud-spotted sky was a mixture of light and dark blues, signaling the onset of twilight. It would be a perfect night for romance, or for animals to roam.

At least until, with a roar, Uzumaki Naruto darted across the training field with a ball of concentrated chakra between his hands. A moment later, the ball smashed into the targeted tree, followed by the soft sound of grinding wood. Then, with a backlash of chakra, Naruto was sent tumbling backwards end over end.

Coming to a rest, the blond remained in a heap, breathing heavily. Sweat was beading on the sides of his face, but he was more interested in the swirl he had created.

"Damn it," Naruto muttered, pushing himself painfully to his feet, his right hand trembling. He didn't understand why he couldn't get this final step, no matter how hard he tried. Non-stop effort had so far yielded nothing; after all of that training, and now this, he still couldn't maintain that damn ball.

As a matter of fact, they only thing he had managed to get in the last few days was his revenge for his team not telling him about being his promotion to Chūnin.

Naruto couldn't help but grin as he remembered that: dyeing all of Ino's clothes orange -along with replacing everything she owned with identical orange items- had been tricky, but well worth the effort. As had dyeing Shino's hair orange while he slept, which was no easy feat with all those bugs of his.

The only prank he could say wasn't worth the effort was the one he had pulled on Anko.

She had deserved it more than the others. Anko should have been, above anyone else, the one to tell him. With this in mind, he had came up with a very special prank for her. He had wrapped a large gauge wire around the prong of her TV's power cord, so that when she plugged it in she received a shock.

Sadly, Anko had become livid after that and was now actively seeking to slit his throat.

He brieftly concentrated on his surroundings, to ensure that Anko wasn't sneaking up on him, then, holding his left hand out, began creating another Rasengan. Hand trembling from the concentration of chakra, Naruto gritted his teeth and, using both hands to maintain the shape, shot forward once more.

At the last moment before impact, Naruto released one of his hands and drove it forward. His arm jarred from the impact, but he still pushed, rewarded as the Rasengan began to bite deep into the wood. Then, with a flash of chakra, it exploded, leaving a deeper spiral in the bark, and Naruto fell on his back.

Breathing heavily, he couldn't help but wince as he stared up at the darkening sky. Kami, why couldn't he get this? Studying the crescent moon and listening to the faint noise of the village, Naruto drifted for a moment.

Closing his open hands, he sighed, concentrating on the noise from the village.

He could still remember the feeling of joy that had flooded through him when he had discovered shop owners and normal villagers acknowledging him. Not as something to reject, or to yell at, but as something to praise. He was more aware of the girls some his age, some younger, all staring at him as if he was Sasuke.

He was careful, however, to remember that they only liked him now because of his status, but he still played up to them. But he couldn't forget the feeling: He was respected now. Not just by a few people, but by an entire village. That moment had been like something out of a dream, a dream that had turned sour quickly as he realized that many of the villagers saw him as more than a hero.

Some had said his name in religious awe, as if he was the great reincarnation of the Yondaime. He had been crowded by a large group of them, pressing in, trying to touch him as if they believed he could bless them. They had treated him as if he was an avatar of the kami and not Naruto.

He had quickly escaped, overwhelmed and frightened. That hadn't been respect. Those villagers had been worshiping him. They had latched onto him in some insane view that he was something from heaven. That had been the last thing he had ever wanted, and, no matter what, he was determined never to let those type of people near him again.

With a grunt, Naruto rolled himself over and then pushed himself back to his feet. Legs trembling, he panted and looked at the tree he had been practicing on. It was identical to so many others, each bearing the swirling pattern of an uncontrolled Rasengan. He felt anger building within him.

Holding his hand out once more, Naruto began concentrating chakra and striking at it to form the sphere of power. He let it build, almost to the point that he couldn't stand it and then, grasping it with both hands, roared, darting forward. Driving his right hand forward, he released the ball from his left and slammed the ball of chakra into the tree.

Pushing, straining, he drove it deep into the tree trunk. A moment later, chips of bark striking his cheeks, with a loud cracking noise, Naruto tumbled forward as the tree exploded. Falling face first to the ground, Naruto winced from the pain in his arm even as he felt slivers of wood rain down on him.

Using his left arm, the one that didn't feel like jello, he pushed himself over to stare at the tree. He couldn't help but start laughing at what he found. There was only half a tree left, the bottom half; the rest of it had been destroyed.

"Fuck yeah!" Naruto muttered excitedly and then closed his eye's, mind and body giving out.

* * *

Sasuke felt his body protest as he moved, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting. He had been training for nearly a full month, non-stop. Despite his determination, even he knew that when you received word from the Hokage's office that you were ORDERED to return home to resume missions, you did so.

Still, he had stayed as late as he dared, squeezing in a few more hours of training.

As a result, his mind was exhausted, and he was pretty sure his chakra was dangerously low. Plus, the mysterious mark on his neck which he had recieved in the second exam and had been instantly sealed by his clan during the month-long training period- was twinging slightly. Still, he felt that he had improved.

Not enough to beat Itachi, but definitely enough to beat Naruto.

Entering the village proper, he felt the expected hostile gazes from the few that noticed him. Like a true Uchiha, however, he ignored them.

Seeing a pink curtain briefly reminded him of Sakura, and he wondered, vaguely, if he should apologize. He felt a flare of annoyance, but tempered it with the knowledge that she did have some right to one. As kunoichi went, she was excellent, and while, there might have been prettier girls he could date, she alone was truly devoted to him.

To an Uchiha, devotion and loyalty were prized above almost everything else.

Putting such petty musings aside, he spotted the entrance to his family's district, then paused as the wind shifted, carrying the familiar scent of blood toward him. Stomach twisting, Sasuke broke into a run before skidding to a stop, staring in mute horror at the scene before him.

The street was littered with dead bodies, twisted into unnatural shapes and surrounded by pools of blood. Horror and hate consuming him, his eyes swirled into the distinctive Sharingan. Eyes darting from shadow to shadow for signs of the attackers, he discovered more bodies. Children and women, people who could have never developed or passed along the Sharigan.

Even pets.

Sasuke felt himself wretch as he realized the implications of this moment: all these bodies and no sound of combat. Kami, the silencing seals that surrounded the district had kept the ANBU or other ninja from noticing the massacre. He reeled at the knowledge, but he could think of no one who could do this.

He stumbled away from the entrance, knowing he needed to alert someone. Anyone. Whoever, _what_ever, could wipe out his entire clan had to be dangerous beyond words. Eyes widening, a new fear clutched at his throat and heart, and he darted into the district, heedless of the danger.

Rounding one corner after another, barrelling down yet another street filled with bodies. Each passing moment drove him faster, making him more frantic. His dad, his mom, Itachi: They could all be dead, and it spurred him to move even faster.

Three streets later, the sealed bite on his neck sending sharp pains through him, Sasuke came to a halt before his home. Throwing open the wooden doors, he shot through the garden, jumping the reflection lake, and slammed the the wooden doors to the entrance room of his home open.

Panting, Sasuke darted across the room and tore through the rice paper doors. Running blindly along the inner veranda, he knew he couldn't stop, couldn't slow down as long as his family was in danger. Seeing his parents' room come into view, he redoubled his speed.

"Mother?! Father!?"

"Sasuke... Don't come in!" his mother shouted, which only spurred the boy faster before he slid to a halt and slammed the door open.

Sasuke's Sharingan memorized every inch of that moment: from his mother's and father's faces, to the blood, to how they looked like broken dolls. Even the hint of his father's despair and his mother's fear. Part of Sasuke shattered at that moment, even as the image was forever engraved in his memory.

Then he saw Itachi standing over their bodies, gazing down at them blankly, a bloody sword in hand. Sasuke, feeling more numb than should have been possible, hesitantly stepped into the room. "What... What did you do!?"

At his words, Itachi looked up, Sharingan activated. Sasuke just barely saw the shuriken, just barely managed to avoid the attack.

"Foolish little brother..." Itachi breathed, eyes closing. Sasuke shifted his weight, wondering almost hopefully if Itachi was calling him a fool for assuming he could do this to their parents.

A moment later, Itachi's eyes snapped open to reveal a Sharingan with a black swirl in the shape of a three-sided throwing star. The Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke realized dimly before his mind shattered.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Sasuke shouted, clutching at his head, his own Sharingan crumbling as memories danced before him.

_"As I expected, you are my child," his father said, before the image of Itachi slaughtering him flashed before his eyes._

_There was his mother's smiling face. "Your father, when he talks to me, it is only about you..." Then she, too, was slaughtered in a spray of blood, before a set of eyes without remorse. _

_"We are unique brothers..." Itachi was saying before his others memories intruded, each relaying the brutal death of his entire Clan._

One by one, Sasuke witnessed and experienced the pain of his Clan's death. Moment by moment, his mind was brutally raped and assaulted by his brother's genjutsu. Until, at last, the torture came to an end, leaving him on the ground, crying and sobbing, a broken and ruined wreck of an Uchiha.

"Why," Sasuke moaned, curling into a ball. "Why, why, why, why..."

"To test my capacity," Itachi said emotionlessly "and because the betrayed the true Uchiha purpose."

"To test... To test..." Sasuke repeated, even as anger blossomed inside him. "You killed everyone... to... Just to test..."

"It was essential."

"Damn you!" Sasuke shouted, lunging up and forward, attempting to mold the chakra for a Chidori. Instead, his body was racked by crippling pain, and he collapsed to the floor inches from the blood of his parents. Clutching at his neck, withering in agony, he stared hatefully up at the monster that was his brother.

"This is as far as you can go," Itachi said indifferently. "As you are, you can gain nothing. Without hate, you are forever stunted. Foolish brother, know that the only reason you remain is because of your wish to surpass me. For that, I will let you live."

"I hate you," Sasuke managed in a strangled hiss.

"At the main temple of the Nakano Shrine, on the far right side, under the seventh tatami mat is the clan's secret meeting place," Itachi said, his compassionless eyes never leaving him. "You'll find what purpose the Doujutsu of the Uchiha Clan originally served. Hate me and survive... Awaken the same eye as mine...prove your loyalty."

Sasuke forced his body to move despite the blinding pain, his anger and hate great enough to overcome it. Grasping his brother ankle, Sasuke looked up, wincing, to find Itachi staring down at him unmoved. Sasuke struggled to pull himself up, but Itachi allowed his Mangekyou Sharingan to slam into his mind once more.

"For the next twenty-four hours," Itachi's voice intoned as the memory of Itachi slaughtering their parents filled his mind, "you will relive this night."

Uchiha Sasuke screamed like the damned soul he was.

* * *

Itachi felt his pursuers closing in, gaining ground steadily. He wasn't surprised, really. After all, you couldn't expect to kill an entire Clan of combat experts within the heart of the strongest Hidden Village and not have pursuers. The only thing that surprised him was just how long they had taken in responding to the disturbance. Those silencing seals of his clan's had truly been powerful.

A minute later, he felt three of the signatures pull ahead of the others and close in. It didn't take long for two to reach his sides, forming a triangle. Standard formation; ANBU, then. This might prove more trying than he had originally expected, if they weren't trainees, at least.

But they would be, since trainees were regularly put into patrols within the walls of Konoha espcially now. The one on his left broke cover first, a sword drawn. Itachi caught the arm, broke it in three places and then shoved the sword through the man's chest, all without breaking stride.

"BASTARD!" the one on the right shouted, and Itachi launched a kunai, barely glancing, but knowing his aim was true. The sound of a body falling to the ground from a high distance reaffirmed this. A minute later, he registered the high-speed travel of a Shunshin and moved to the right, avoiding the attack.

The last trainee rebounded with a curse and came back at him, throwing shuriken. He was keeping his distance, however not entirely a bad plan, in Itachi's estimation. Locking eyes with the man, Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and, with a hoarse cry, the man was consumed in black flames.

Itachi, however, was not so distracted that he didn't feel a new group of attackers coming at him from ahead. Word was spreading, apparently. A shunshin of his own brought him in range of his new enemies, a duck allowed him to avoid a stab, and then a quick flick drove a kunai through the man's throat.

The second attacker was taken care off by a standard fire jutsu, and the final one died by a Chidori to the face.

Body dropping, he continued onward.

The Mangekyou Sharingan was beyond his wildest dreams. He could tell what someone was going to do twenty moves before they had finished the first move. His genjutsu was stronger, his fire hotter. Reflecting back on all he had to endure to achieve it, he wondered at the price.

He had slaughtered nearly his whole Clan, ripped his own soul out, just for this power. A price he would gladly pay again if he needed to.He was pulled from his reflection by the feeling of something wet on his cheek. Reaching up, he felt the liquid, then checked it under the moonlight.

Black.

He realized he was crying blood. Apparently the Mangekyou had another price to pay besides the sacrifice of the thing you care for the most. Still, it didn't change the fact that if he had to pay the price with even more lives, he would.

* * *

AN: The Chapter title translates directly to 'Burning Fan', I believe the reference is fairly obvious. 


	25. Chapter 24: Aftermath

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 24:  
_-Aftermath-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

Konoha was in chaos. Carefully controlled chaos, but still chaos. Rumors were flooding the streets; ninja were jumping at the slightest provocation. Still, the truth, at least within Konoha, was known. Not a full twenty-four hours ago, the entire Uchiha Clan had been slaughtered.

_Inside their own Clan District. _

Much of Konoha's infrastructure had been made up of Uchiha. The Military Police were the best known example of this, but there were other positions, such as the Shinobi Heiryoku Tachiou, who did roughly the same job as the ANBU Commander, except he did so for the regular ninja forces, from Genin to Jōnin. Then, there was the Jōnin Shirei, the Chief Commander for all regular and special Jōnin, who also acted as a second in command and advisor to the Shinobi Heiryoku Taichou.

Thankfully, not _all_ of the infrastructure was dependent on Uchiha: The Hyūga held even more positions and were already stepping in to help fill such key points. Unfortunately, this did nothing to help the village's morale or the panic that was seizing it. The Military Police were beyond hope; after the Unity Incident the majority of the remaining force had been Uchiha. The ANBU were little better, in all honesty; they were stretched thin due to the same incident, and early reports indicated that even more were lost due to the Uchiha Incident.

This was the state of affairs that Kakashi had been thrust into, so, needless to say, when Kakashi entered the Council meeting room, he was beyond pissed. He was bordering on sociopathic, and when he strode into the room, he did so like an oni straight from hell. His gaze promised pain to any who so much as spoke before he was ready.

He slowly circled the room and the round table. His eye roamed over each and every one in silent calculation before finally stopping at the seat traditiontally used by the Hokage. Glancing briefly at both Homura and Koharu, he focused entirely on his acting successor, Tenzou, while placing his hands on its back as he spoke. "Well?"

"Kak-" one of the council members started to say before Kakashi fixed him with a withering glare. Seeing the man choke his words, the 'acting-Hokage' fixed his steady gaze back on Tenzou.

"All I want, is to know A, Who? B, How? C, our status, and D, surviors."

Tenzou shifted slightly and then spoke, his voice carefully neutral so as to hide his own unease at Kakashi's attitude. "From all accounts, the 'who' would be Uchiha Itachi. He's managed to escape the village, but we've given orders to the patrols ordering his neutralization. As for 'how,' we don't know. Evidence suggests that he began killing members of his clan for at least the last six months starting with Shisui. We do know that he managed this massacare partially due to the silencing and chakra concealing seals that were applied for the privacy of the Uchiha Clan district."

"I knew their paranoia would hurt us," one of the Council members muttered, then, seeing Kakashi's glare, apologized.

"So," Kakashi said after a moment, looking once more at Tenzou, "we had an unstable sociopath working within our own walls, planning to kill his entire clan, for nearly six months?"

"Apparently," Tenzou admitted before continuing with his report. "As for our current status, we've managed to contain the situation. Nobody in, nobody out; a total communications lock down, as well. As I said before, we sent encoded orders to our patrols in the field relaying that all standing orders are to remain in place, and that Uchiha Itachi is to be neutralized."

"Good. At least now we don't have to worry about someone getting any funny ideas," Kakashi muttered, crossing his arms. If word of this got out, in their current disorder, every other Kage power would attack and Konoha would crumble. They needed to get a handle on the situation and repair their infrastructure as best they could, as fast as they could.

"As for survivors," Tenzou continued, and Kakashi focused on him once more. "There is only one confirmed survivor. Uchiha Sasuke. We're not sure why he survived, either. From what we could tell, he attempted to fight against Itachi, exhausted himself, and is trapped in a very intense genjutsu."

"Genjutsu was always Itachi's specialty," Kakashi muttered, looking out the window over the vast village, unable to believe the situation they were now dealing with. It was like Orochimaru's betrayal all over again, only this time _nobody_ had suspected a thing.

"What is the current status of Uchiha Sasuke?" Homura asked, his voice firm and determined.

"Konoha Hospital, ICU. ANBU Guard Level-2; last report indicated that he was still trapped in the Genjutsu," Tenzou explained, tapping his finger against the table. "I've got both the top ANBU genjutsu expert and the top Jōnin genjutsu expert working on breaking it, but they both say they've never encountered this type of technique."

"A genjutsu shouldn't be _that_ hard to break," Kakashi said, frowning behind his mask. The two top genjutsu experts in the village, and they were utterly helpless? "Send for Inoichi-san; he should be able to break it if they're still unable to. If they do manage to break it before he gets there, I want Inoichi-san standing by to help Ibiki-san with questioning, since Sasuke is the only one who can give us a clear picture of what exactly happened."

"Of course."

Kakashi nodded absently at the acknowledgment and then left the room. Let the council discuss the situation even further; it was all they were good for, in Kakashi's opinon. It would be up to him to protect the village as best he could, at least until Tsunade turned up to take over the job. First things first, he would have to visit Sandaime and keep the man up to date.

After that, he would have to deal with the others and probably send word to the Inuzuka Clan for their help in tracking Itachi. The burial of the bodies was also going to fall to him; he couldn't trust any of the clans to handle that. Especially the Hyūga, who now had a frightening amount of control of Konoha, which meant he would have to make sure to break it as soon as he could.

Above all of that, however, was his desire to know why, exactly, Itachi had waited for so long. Itachi had waited longer than anyone he had ever heard of, just to strike. Why now, why kill his family? For that matter, why wipe out the entire clan and then leave Sasuke alive?

Admittedly, Sasuke was strong, but he was nowhere near a real threat to Itachi. Leaving him alive was an act of compassion, which Itachi never showed when he killed. More importantly, it was also an act of foolishness. Sasuke would get stronger; he would be driven by a thirst for vengeance that would never be quelled until Itachi was dead.

Kakashi would have to keep a close eye on the boy, maybe offer training to try and keep the boy from going too far into the darkness that was going to consume him.

Still, there was a paranoid part of him, the cynical part, that told him it could all be an act. Sasuke could have been an active participant in the slaughter and had decided to remain behind to act innocent. However, Itachi did not tolerate such acts of dubious loyalty, and, if it had been true, would have killed Sasuke immediately.

Instead, he decided that either Itachi had simply not considered the act of killing Sasuke worthwhile or Sasuke had faced Itachi after he had achieved whatever goal he sought in killing his clan. Both rung true in his mind, and Kakashi silently mused that they were probably interconnected, that, for whatever reason, Sasuke had survived only through sheer luck.

Yet, this meant that the Uchiha had been hiding a very large, very dangerous secret. It appeared that the only way to discover it would be to talk to an Uchiha. Which meant he would be speaking with Sasuke sooner than he had imagined.

* * *

It had been a long time since Sakura had spent the night at Ino's, a long time since they had stayed up late into the night talking. Things were still a bit rough, a bit strained, but they had made progress. Sakura and Ino could honestly say they were friends. Not as close as they once were, but they were working on it.

The main theme last night and most of the morning had actually been Ino venting on Naruto's prank. Sakura honestly wondered how, exactly, he had managed to pull it off, while at the same time pitying Ino. Having a boyfriend who could do _that_ to you was not an easy thing to live with. Still, Sakura had used every chance to tease the girl... Especially about the orange comforter Ino claimed 'had just been overlooked' but had still slept under.

Of course all of that had happened before she was racing through the streets in a panic.

Ten minutes ago had seen the fracturing of her facade of strength and the near shattering of her world. An ANBU had arrived in the shop, where both girls were giggling and working on flower arrangements, and demanded to see Inoichi. Of course, the older man hadn't been there, but Ino's mom had. Ino's mom who had asked what exactly happened that they needed Inoichi.

Ten minutes ago, for the first time, Haruno Sakura heard about the Uchiha Massacre. Ten minutes ago, Haruno Sakura had shoved Ino out of her way and bolted from the shop. Ten minutes ago, she had started crying as she ran, headed for the hospital. Because ten minutes ago, she stopped being a kunoichi and became a thirteen year old girl whose world had suddenly shattered.

Sasuke was strong; Kiba said it made him arrogant, but Sakura denied that. Sasuke was many things: confident, brave, fearless, her knight and savior, but he was not arrogant. He also happened to be the corner stone of her world; her inner-self depended on his strength, on the fact that he would always be there for her. Without him, if he was gone or in serious danger, her world crumbled.

Sakura, of course, knew that made her weak in the long run, and she tried not to depend on it. She couldn't help it, though; her father had destroyed a lot of her strength and confidence. It hadn't been until Ino that she had found her confidence again. Her strength, however, that was still lacking, and without Sasuke she would never be able to recover it.

Shoving her way through a pair of ninja, Sakura quickened her pace, heart hammering in her ears.

_Sasuke_.

He was the only thing in her mind, hovering just before her mind's eye on his death bed. She had to reach him; she wasn't sure what she could do, but she knew she _had_ to be there for him. This time, she forced her way through a knot of shop keepers and, without a word of apology, kept running. With each step, her fear grew, and her heart felt like it was about to explode.

Dimly, she was aware that she wasn't breathing as she ran; there was burning sensation in her lungs. Her eyes burned as well, from unshed tears and the wind of her passage. Still, she ran, heedless of the pain, of the fear, because she had to get to Sasuke. Nothing was going to stop her. Nothing.

_Sasuke_.

Her legs churnned relentlessly as she skidded around each corner, shoved people out of her way, raced to the building. As the massive building and its gates came into view, Sakura gasped for air, but didn't stop running till she burst through the admitting doors. Skidding to a halt on the marble floor, she felt her head spin.

Stupid, stupid. Sakura forced herself to breathe, to recover, and then fear about Sasuke's life, emboldened her. Rushing to the admitting desk, elbowing her way through a pair of doctors, Sakura squared her shoulders and glared at the nurse sitting behind the desk. "Sasuke-kun. Where is Sasuke-kun?"

"Ma'am, you need to-"

"WHERE IS HE!?" Sakura screeched, knowing without looking that everyone was staring at her.

"Listen, girl, you can't just come in here-"

"TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" Sakura shouted, uncaring about manners; all that mattered was reaching Sasuke.

"I'm going to have to ask you to-" the nurse started to say before a new, though familiar, voice spoke up in a panic.

"Sakura."

"Kurenai-sensei?" Whipping her head around, Sakura found Kurenai walking toward her, lips forced into a thin line. Behind her, looking equally serious, was a purple -haired woman dressed in solid black. Forgetting about the nurse, Sakura rushed toward her sensei, hoping and praying that she could help her see Sasuke.

"Kurenai-sensei, what's going on? What happened? They said the Uchiha... and Sasuke... and, and..."

"Sakura, ssh. It's okay," the older woman said, pulling her into a comforting hug. "Everything's fine. I can't tell you everything-"

"But-"

"Sakura!" Kurenai suddenly snapped, shutting her down before she could even start. "Listen to me. This is what I can tell you: You can't see him right now, but he's fine. Unconscious, but fine. He suffered under an intense genjutsu. He'll be fine."

"So, so he's okay?" Sakura asked, the tension coursing through her body fading. Of course he was; if Kurenai said he was, then things were fine. Genjutsu; Kurenai was a genjutsu expert, so there was no danger. It was okay, everything was okay.

"Yūhi-san, Uzuki-san we just got word," Inoichi's voice suddenly said, and Sakura looked around to find Ino's dad and the scarred man from the Chūnin Exams marching toward them.

"Ah, you're here? The genjutsu; we've never seen anything like it... No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't break through, and then it just suddenly went away," the purple-haired woman said, shaking her head. "He's still unconscious. The doctors were checking on him earlier."

"So, other than the genjutsu, what else happened?" Inoichi asked tiredly.

"Chakra exhaustion, mostly," Kurenai said, letting Sakura pull away from the hug, but keeping her under arm. "There was a minor hint of his chakra pathways having been altered, but nothing very serious."

"Altered?" Ibiki asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I, I know what it is," Sakura offered, then, seeing all their attention shift to her, she braced herself. Sasuke had told her about the seal, he'd gotten it from his clan for the exams but had asked her not to mention it to anyone. If it were any other situation, she would, but it seemed to be hurting Sasuke and she _had_ to tell.

"Well?"

"It's the after effect of an Uchiha clan seal," Sakura said, using all of her training to keep her voice steady. "He got it for entering the Chūnin Exams. It's a seal that's supposed to help the user access their chakra more effectively."

"Hmm, could explain why the genjutsu was so strong," Kurenai mused softly. "If he was using the same seal, or knew about it, he could concentrate the chakra and maybe even make it so that Sasuke's own chakra would support the illusion."

"Possible," Ibiki allowed, snorting. "Those Uchiha were always doing stuff like that with seals. Create a useful seal, then lock it away, keep it secret, and then when it backfires let us deal with the chaos. Just like with their Clan district and all their privacy seals."

"Anyway," Inoichi said, shooting the man a glare before turning to Sakura. "Listen, Ino's just outside. Why don't you go with her and get some flowers for Sasuke? I'm sure by the time you get back we'll be done and you can see him."

Sakura hesitated, chewing her bottom lip. Her overwhelming desire to see Sasuke was still there, it was urging her to demand to see him. Yet, now that Kurenai was there, exerting forced calm, Sakura knew it wouldn't happen. At least, not until after they were done, and it wasn't like Sasuke was really in danger anymore.

Kurenai had said he was fine; she wouldn't let anything happen to Sasuke. He was one of her students, and Kurenai viewed each of them like her own children, to an extent. Which meant Sasuke would be okay as long as Kurenai was around. Glancing up at her sensei, she received a reassuring look, then she looked back at Inoichi.

"I-I'll be back in a bit," Sakura murmured quietly, then, stepping away, walked out of the hospital. Now that she was thinking back on the last few minutes, she realized how rash she had been. Kami, she had shoved Ino, after all that time of rebuilding their friendship and she had shoved the girl aside like she was nothing.

"Sakura?" Looking up, Sakura found Ino standing in front of her, a look of uncertainty on her face.

"Hey," was all Sakura could manage.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked, moving up to hug her. Reflexively, Sakura hugged back, then Ino pulled away to study her face. "I mean, you rushed out of there so fast, and you were a bit..."

"Freaked," Sakura supplied, feeling and looking ashamed. "I was. Sorry about that. I mean, I shoved you and just-"

"Hey, no biggie," Ino said, cutting her off with an understanding smile. "I mean, you heard about that..."

"Massacre," Sakura supplied thickly, still unable to really process it. The entire Uchiha Clan killed? They were considered the best at combat; if it hadn't been Naruto that had stopped that demon, then it would have been an Uchiha.

"Right, then you heard Sasuke was in the hospital. Two and two equals four, so I think it's an understandable reason to freak," Ino continued softly, putting an arm around Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura nodded, feeling grateful that Ino was being so understanding. As they slowly walked down the steps and toward the gates, Ino was saying how in the right circumstance she would react the same. Sakura suddenly went stiff, eyes widening as a horrible thought rushed to the forefront of her brain, a thought that forced her to stare at Ino.

"What's wrong?"

"I-Ino, where's Naruto?"

"Training," the girl muttered crossing her arms. "Hiding, too, if he knows what's good for him."

Reaching out, Sakura grasped Ino's elbow, her voice carrying an edge to it. "Ino, if he was out there, and he learned or saw... Wouldn't he try to stop whoever had killed the Uchiha Clan?"

Ino's eyes went wide, her face paling and her shoulders sagging. A horrible understanding flashing through her eyes, then Ino quickly mastered herself and put on a front of bravado. "Y-yeah, but he's faced a demon, right? So, I mean, like, if he did face them... He'd live."

"Right," Sakura agreed quickly, feeling horrible about supplying a thought that had escaped Ino in the panic. "Whoever it was had to be hurt. Sasuke-kun fought him, obviously, and nobody fights Sasuke-kun without getting hurt."

"Exactly," Ino agreed, forcing herself to sound confident. "Besides, I doubt Naruto-kun fought him. The way he trains, he probably fell asleep and missed everything."

"Of course; happens to Sasuke-kun all the time," Sakura agreed with a nod. "Plus, we don't know where he was training, so we don't know if he would even know at all."

"Yeah," Ino agreed with a nod. "Nothing to worry about. I'm actually sorta sorry he didn't fight the bastards. Then Sasuke could see their heads on a pike for what they did."

"Exactly!" Ino nodded firmly. "Tell you what, we see him, we'll ask him to join up with Sasuke so they can BOTH track the bastards down..."

"Sounds like plan," Sakura said, smiling a bit more. "We better go get some flowers for Sasuke-kun, though. He won't like the idea of teaming up with Naruto."

"Miso ramen, can't forget that, " Ino said walking beside her. "'Cause Naruto-kun won't be happy about it either."

Sakura nodded, deciding that it was nice to have a friend to tell lies with.

* * *

The garden was silent. Beautiful, really; meditative.

It provided a stark contrast to the Uchiha compound estate, whose garden had been made up of hardy and tough plants. The Hyūga garden was made up of lush plants, gentle flowers, reflective ponds, a stone garden, and, of course, the required bridges. It was ideal for meditation or private conversations, especially between brothers who, by normal standards, were separated by status and tradition.

Hyūga Hizashi considered his brother, wondering at the fate that had chosen their roles in life, but said nothing. They very rarely said anything during these walks; there was no need to since that night so many years ago, when Kumo had demanded Hiashi's body. The night when the Hokage had laughed derisively at the offer of the Hyūga Council and Hizashi, and instead sent the heads of the Kumo delegation back to the village with threat of renewed war.

Between them, above all else, they understood that they were brothers. Family.

Yet, this time, Hizashi had to speak, because things were happening that troubled him. "Why did you smuggle Uchiha Mikomi into our keeping?"

Hiashi remained silent before, a few moments later, he slowed, then came to a stop. It was not lost on Hizashi that they were in the most secluded of spots, where there was no chance of eavesdropping. Turning, Hiashi studied him silently for a moment, then spoke in that firm tone he was known for. "For safe keeping."

"Safe keeping?"

"Yes," Hiashi said curtly with a slight nod. "However, I must ask something of you, and, more importantly, of your son, Neji-san."

"What do you require, Hyūga-sama?"

"Not as the Head of the Main Family," Hiashi said, a tone of warning in his voice. "I need this of my brother and my nephew."

"Whatever you need," Hizashi said, meaning it, and wondering what it could be.

"The Hyūga Council is seeking to increase our control over the village infrastructure. Which, of course, I can understand; we are the oldest of the Konoha clans. However, they are appointing..."

"Lap dogs?" Hizashi ventured, knowing all too well the politics that could get involved with the Hyūga. Hiashi's family were modernists, which left many within the Hyūga upset. They could easily, if they gained the proper positions, frame Hiashi -and, by proxy, Hizashi and Neji- which would, in turn, allow them to select a more traditional member of the male line to run the clan. Which would mean that any advances the Hyūga had made internally would be eradicated over night.

"Yes, and I need people I can trust in two positions. They are key because they can, ultimately, counter any actions the fools that surround us may attempt," Hiashi explained, grimacing. "I need you to accept the position of Jōnin Shirei."

"I see. However, why not the Shinobi Heiryoku Tachiou?"

"Kakashi-san has managed to place an Inuzuka into that position," Hiashi explained, seeming mildly put out.

"Then, of course I'll take the Jōnin Shirei position," Hizashi said, then tilted his head slightly. "You said you needed my son for something as well?"

"Yes," Hiashi said, lowering his tone. "I need for him to accept leadership of the new Military Police. Kakashi-san is hurrying to fill positions, but he _has_ to use Jōnin for other key position; he has no one to spare for that position. The Hyūga council has yet to settle on a candidate, but that will not last. Equally importantly, other clans are trying to claim positions, and this is one that must be in our possession."

"Of course, he will do as you ask, but he _is_ only a Chūnin. A newly promoted one, as well."

"Yes, but he did fight along side Uzumaki-san against Gaara. I can use that and his own record to convince Kakashi-san of the wisdom in the appointment of Neji," Hiashi explained, his frown deepening. "Will he accept the job?"

"Of course," Hizashi said, for the first time realizing the gamble that Hiashi was playing. The Leader of the Main Branch always had a Branch member to act as bodyguard. This would be the first time that a Leader was willingly allowing a trusted guard to be replaced by those he could not fully trust. In essence, he was offering his life up to assassination for the chance to keep the clan moving forward.

After a few more minutes of silence had passed, Hizashi sighed and turned, walking once more with Hiashi at his side. It was one of those odd moments where Hiashi was acting out of something other than his own self-arrogance. Hizashi knew he was a good leader -under him, the Branch Family were almost treated civilly by the Main Clan- but it was rare for Hiashi to sacrifice his own safety for the benefit of that same family.

Setting it aside, he instead turned back to the matter of the Uchiha. There had to be more than 'safety' for Hiashi to make such a bold and dangerous move. Something that Hizashi feared was the Hyūga drive for dominance.

"You spoke of safety," Haizshi said, glancing at the other man. "However, I must ask if you might be attempting something else."

"Would you rather the Uchiha fell into the wrong hands? Hands that could adapt them to their own needs or in ways of destroying us?" Hiashi countered, not returning his glance. "I do this out of safety for our Clan and the village as a whole. Though, I will admit that I hope to learn where exactly they deviated from our line through the study of the Uchiha."

"I thought you believed in the Clan history more firmly than that," Hizashi said lightly. "Hyūga Hana met the god Susanowa, who, taking his revenge on a child of Amaterasu's, forced himself upon the woman and spawned the first Uchiha. Hana and her brood were disowned for the shame, naturally, only to be later used in a deal between Susanowa and the tengu leader, Sojo-bo-"

"-which gave birth to their corrupted doujutsu, the Mangekyou Sharingan," Hiashi finished dryly. "Yes, I know the story."

Sighing Hizashi shook his head, resgined to what his brother was doing. "So, I can not dissuade you from doing this?"

"No," Hiashi said, turning to face his brother. "For the reason I have already given you, this must happen. This is our best chance to understand why and when they diverged from us."

"Still, to do this," Hizashi said, frowning. "It seems very underhanded, and the village has prepared her family for burial. To keep her from that..."

"It is in the best interests of the clan-" Hiashi said, scowling slightly.

"So, you are not going to study the Uchiha just to gain their bloodline?" Hizashi shot back, his temper getting the better of him. Remembering his place, and with whom he was speaking, brother or not, he quickly bowed. "I apologize Hiashi-sama; I know that you believe this is best for our clan."

"Do you question my judgment?" Hiashi shot back, his tone growing angry and dangerous. "The more I know of their bodies, their eyes, the better I can decide why a group of our family could become so pathetic!"

"No, of course I do not question your judgment," Hizashi said, bowing even more respectfully, then, standing, met his brother's gaze intently. "Just be careful that you do not become like those that you have killed in the past. The best of intentions do not always yield the best of results."

"I am not so foolish that you need to tell me that," Hiashi said simply before sighing. "Our meeting is almost over, and I have yet to ask: How is Neji? I understand he has started dating."

"He is quite well. Much more talented than myself, or you, at that age," Hizashi said proudly, warmed by the thought of his son and the talent he displayed. How Hizashi wished he could have been first so that Neji could have been Main Branch. "As for the girl that has caught his attention; she is, indeed, a very beautiful young woman. An extremely talented weapons mistress, a perfect match if I do say so."

"Ahah. Then I'll see about arranging things for them," Hiashi said fondly.

"We would be honored," Hizashi said. "How is Hinata-sama? I understand she didn't participate in this exam?"

"Hinata, sadly, is not quite so talented. I would try to ensnare Uzumaki-san with her -she is quite attractive- but her personality would clash against his, and forcing her to do something has never yielded the desired result," Hiashi responded, sighing. "Hanabi shows promise, however; if only her mother would stop coddling her and she would learn to not let her pride control her."

"It was a crime that your wife could not provide a son," Hizashi said, both meaning it and not meaning it. The Hyūga family linage was passed through the male line: without a son, and provided neither daughter married another Hyūga, Neji would become the next Clan Head upon Hiashi's death. Unless the council framed them all and hence elected a new male line.

"Yes, but there may still be hope," Hiashi said, before turning away "It has been nice speaking with you once more. However, I must now see to more pressing matters."

"Of course, Hyūga-sama," Hizashi said, bowing once more. Watching his brother move away, the younger Hyūga sighed and shook his head. Turning, he headed for home, wondering if things would ever change for the Hyūga.

* * *

It was the sound of a soft voice that drew his attention, and, lifting his head from his paws, Akamaru's ears twitched. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but, then again, they were speaking 'human,' and he wasn't quite as fluent as the older members of the pack. Still, he picked out certain words; something about an attack and about pursuit.

Yawning, he looked over at his nearest neighbor, a massive dog with a scar on his face, who looked extremely interested in what was being said. "Kuromaru, what are they saying?"

"Something disturbing, pup," the larger dog said, getting to his feet, turning to stare at him and the others members of the pack. "Listen up! The Uchiha Clan has been wiped out. The Hokage and ANBU are asking for the Inuzuka Pack to help track the killer and bring him to justice."

"Of course!" another dog said eagerly, as the others growled dangerously. "Who was the killer?"

"A man by the name of Uchiha Itachi," Kuromaru said, before looking at Akamaru. "You need to tell Kiba; he's sleeping, and I doubt he knows about this."

"Right!" Akamaru nodded, then bounding to his feet, shot out of the sleeping area, his mind racing. He was still a tad young, he didn't fully grasp why the pack had seemed so upset, but he did know that Kiba should be told. Needed to be told. After all, his team mate was an Uchiha, and team mates were like members of the human 'packs', even if they were different.

Kiba had tried to explain it all once, but Akamaru didn't quite grasp the concept. Just that the team was a pack that wasn't a pack, and that Kiba found the pink bitch attractive but refused to mate with her. Then again, Kiba found most bitches attractive but refused to mate with any of them. Akamaru really didn't understand that.

Maybe it had something to do with the other member of the pack, the one that smelled of metal and blood. Sasuke, yes; it was probably due to him that Kiba avoided mounting the pink bitch. Not that Akamaru could blame him; Sasuke seemed dangerous to anger.

Clearing the last hurdle between the sleeping area and the Pack home, he scrambled through the doggy door that Kiba had insisted on installing and then, darting around Hana, hurried up the stairs. Nails clacking against the wood, he raced along excitedly before skidding to a stop just outside the door that carried the strong scent of Kiba.

As always, it was left partially open, and Akamaru wiggled his way inside.

It was dark, and the air rich with ripe scents, which distracted Akamaru for a moment. Sniffing and snorting, he poked his way across the floor, checking socks and shirts as he went. After a rather foul smelling sock, he retreated and whined, before remembering why he was there. Approaching the bed, he hunched down, shifting his weight as he prepared for the jump.

Then, ready, he leaped up and managed to catch the edge of the bed. Claws scrambling against the edge of the bed, he pulled himself all the way up and panted happily. Padding across the blanket, he paused, staring at the lump in the bed, then hurried to Kiba's head and barked. The boy snorted and brushed him aside, sleepily muttering something. Growling, Akamaru hurried back and barked repeatedly.

This time, Kiba rolled over, away from him, and Akamaru growled before butting his head against the back of the boy. Barking, Akamaru retreated as Kiba rolled onto his back again and huffed. Frustrated by the lack of response, Akamaru jumped up on the boy's chest and, as close as possible, barked while jumping up and down.

"Wassit," Kiba finally mumbled, not opening his eyes "'at you akam'ru?"

"Of course!" Akamaru responded, then barked even louder "Get up. There's a big emergency."

"Emergency?" Kiba mumbled, opening his eyes before sitting up groggily and displacing him. "What kind of emergency?"

"The entire Uchiha Clan was murdered by someone named Itachi," Akamaru said hurriedly, then, seeing Kiba's confusion picked the words he knew Kiba would understand. "Uchiha. Clan. Murder."

"WHAT?!" Kiba shouted, springing from bed and bolting from the room. Akamaru chased after him, excited that Kiba had got the message and didn't waste all that time on those 'clothes' things like he usually did.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi was not particularly thrilled with his job.

His job, of course, was not strictly to be a florist. If it had been, he would have been sufficiently happy. Even working as a normal Jōnin would have been fine. It was because he was a Yamanaka, the best at the various mind techniques, that he had the job he hated.

He was Morino Ibiki's sidekick.

His job was to get the information when only he could. It was a job he hated. It stole people's memories, violated their privacy; he viewed it as a type of rape. He especially hated being forced to do the job against a Konoha ninja, yet it appeared he would be doing so once more.

Ibiki was determined to learn the details involved in the massacre, despite the vocal objections of the doctor. Inoichi, who had no particular love for Sasuke, felt a tad uneasy about what he would soon be doing. Still, he had no choice, and it _was_ Sasuke.

"Yamanaka-san, we can't wait any longer," Ibiki said gruffly, having finally silenced the doctor with the threat of an ANBU cell.

"Morino-san, it's not that simple. He's just a child," Inoichi explained tiredly. "His mind has been trapped within a genjutsu for twenty-four hours. Going in and ripping this information out of him, that runs the serious risk of damaging his mind permanently."

"Do it," Ibiki ground out, striding across the room to hover near Inoichi, "or you'll find yourself in an ANBU cell along with the good doctor."

"I was just explaining the risks," Inoichi said tightly and then lifted his hands forming the needed hand seals. He would have to make several short trips, try to limit himself to the night in question. Concentrating, he mentally plunged forward, and his mind probed the prone boy's, then, finding, a crack slipped inside.

_... "Sasuke, this is how you kiss a woman," Fugaku said drunkly before demonstrating with his giggling wife..._

_..."Why are you still grinning when you've just twisted your ankle?" Itachi asked, carrying Sasuke on his back and smiling slightly. "Are you just pretending to get an easy ride?" "No!" Sasuke said defiantly..._

_...Itachi moved with an envious grace as he leaped and jumped, hitting every target perfectly..._

Inoichi forcefully extracted himself and shook his head to clear it.

"Well?"

Not answering, Inoichi braced himself and dove back in, struggling through Sasuke's memories.

_... Sasuke watched as Itachi formed and then used the Chidori; it was beautiful. He had to learn how to do that. Concentrating, he activated his eyes and copied the move..._

_"I'll show you the true power of the Sharingan," Sasuke said, concentrating his chakra while glaring at Naruto..._

_Sakura was smiling. She looked pretty when she smiled and he fought to keep from kissing her..._

Inoichi pulled himself out again and then, before Ibiki could ask, he plunged once more into the boy's mind.

_... The street was littered with dead bodies, twisted into unnatural shapes and surrounded by pools of blood. Horror and hate consuming him..._

_...Children and women..._

_...Pets..._

_...The silencing seals that surrounded the district had kept the ANBU or other ninja from noticing the massacre..._

_...The blood, his mother's and father's faces etched with despair and fear; they looked like broken dolls lying in the pool of blood..._

_...The pool of blood..._

_Itachi standing over their bodies, gazing down at them blankly, a bloody sword in hand..._

Reeling Inoichi pulled out, retching and waving Ibiki off. Then, stumbling back, fighting his way through the shared emotions, he forced himself inside the mind once more.

_... "Foolish little brother..."_

_...A Sharingan with a black swirl in the shape of a three-sided throwing star..._

_..The Mangekyou Sharingan. Forbidden... Evil..._

_..."As I expected, you are my child..."_

_...Itachi slaughtering his father flashed before his eyes..._

_..."You are stronger than Itachi. I love you, Sasu-chan...,"_

_...Itachi slaughtering his mother in a spray of blood..._

_..Aunts, uncles, cousins..._

_..."Damn you!" Sasuke shouted, lunging up and forward, attempting to mold the chakra for a Chidori..._

_...Death over and over and over..._

Stumbling, Inoichi pulled his mind free and terminated the jutsu. His shoulder trembled, and he felt more horrible at what he had learned. He shoved his way past Ibiki and sat heavily in a chair, taking the glass from the scarred man and gulping it down. He took a huge breath and let it out slowly, then he looked up at the expectant man.

"Well?"

"He used a forbidden type of Sharingan. Mangekyou. It's... I don't know, but it let him wipe out his clan. Sasuke arrived after it started and discovered his mother and father, just as... Itachi... He attacked, Itachi, Chidori; he learned Chidori from Itachi." Inoichi paused and got himself under control. "Itachi and Sasuke fought, then Itachi used the Mangekyou to make Sasuke experience his entire clan's death... Repeatedly."

Ibiki whistled and crossed his arms. "I see. I've got to tell Kakashi-san. Could you find out anything else?"

"No," Inoichi said, shaking his head. "His mind, it's... I guess the best word is shattered. It functions, and it works, but trying to get a specific memory is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack."

"Hn," Ibiki said and then, patting his shoulder, headed for the door. "Come on, we gotta get this information to the Hokage."

Inoichi sat there for another moment, then quietly stood, setting his glass down. For all his loathing for this boy, he couldn't help but feel sympathy. To see and experience all that, have your own brother, to have your entire family wiped out and be forced to relive it for twenty-four hours; it was horrible.

"I hope you find something to make you whole," Inoichi said, meaning it, but still not liking the boy. Then, turning, he walked out of the room.

* * *

Crisp, clean linen. He knew without looking that they would be white and so neat you'd almost imagine that they'd been ironed into place. Training accident? Chakra-exhaustion? He couldn't quite remember, but it would come to him.

He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling of a hospital room. He wasn't used to being there; normally an Uchiha was taken to a Clan physician. They were some of the best medics in the village; they had been the ones, along with the Hyūga doctors during the Unity affair, who had learnend of and shared Naruto's bloodline.

With a groan, he sat up, his mind on autopilot. He looked around at the empty room and frowned, wondering where his mother was. Sakura. It was mildly bright outside, mid-afternoon obviously. Getting up, despite his body's protest, he quietly moved to the bathroom to take care of his body's needs.

Finished, he paused to stare in the mirror; his eyes looked haunted. Reaching up, he briefly touched the seal on his neck. There was no pain there; strange. Making a note to ask the Uchiha Elders, he returned to his bed, only to find a male nurse looking around mildly panicked.

"Hn," Sasuke managed, then watched the relief and surprise flood the man's face.

"Uchiha-sama!" the man said, hurrying over to him. "You shouldn't be up; you've been through a lot!" Taking his arm, the man tried to guide him back to the bed, and Sasuke went willingly enough, if only because it would take too much energy go do otherwise.

"You need to rest; I'll have to get the doctor. Morino-san and Yamanaka-san, too; they just left, but they need to be told in case..." the nurse was rambling as he helped Sasuke back into the bed.

"Why?" Sasuke asked softly, his voice nearly gone. Seeing the man stop, Sasuke felt fear creep into him. Something was starting to nag at his mind. Something important.

"B-because- Uchiha-sama, don't you remember? It's all anyone's talking about..."

"What is it?"

The nurse hesitated, then gulped, lowering his voice. "Your clan...?"

Things started to fall into place, and Sasuke's face turned stony.

They were slaughtered, they were all slaughtered.

_"As I expected, you are my child,"_

His world fell apart.

He could see it all: They were dancing before his eyes, confusing him. He felt empty and broken, like a puppet with its strings cut. He had lost his entire clan; his brother, the man he had admired most, had slaughtered them. For the same eye that Sasuke had been trying to achieve. An eye he had only recently learned was evil and forbidden.

Mangekyou Sharingan.

_"To test my capacity," Itachi said emotionlessly, "and because they betrayed the true Uchiha purpose."_

How could the clan betray such a purpose? It was Itachi who had betrayed the clan; he had turned on the clan in his own need for that forbidden eye. He had taken away everything Sasuke had, taken away his entire clan.

... The True Uchiha purpose...

To enforce the Shinobi laws on other shinobi. To prove that the Uchiha were truly the most powerful. To protect and maintain order within the village.

... True purpose...

What if that was all a lie, though? What if they _had_ betrayed the true purpose? No, father would never do that. Mother would not allow it! Itachi had betrayed the Clan and killed them all. As a test!

_"I hate you," Sasuke managed in a strangled hiss. _

Yes, Sasuke hated his brother. Hated him from the very bottom of his soul. He wanted Itachi dead. Wanted to see the blood pour from the traitor's mouth. Wanted to see those cursed eyes die away. He hated his brother and wanted him dead. Then he could start over.

A new Uchiha Clan, without betrayers. Only the loyalest of the loyal. The strongest of the strong. No more betrayers in the Uchiha Clan. Yes. After he killed his brother, he would give or do anything to see that accomplished: He would found a new Clan. A better Clan.

"Sasuke-kun, you're awake!"

He didn't need to look at the speaker. He knew Sakura's voice instantly. The relief in her tone. The hint of her perfume and flowers. He looked across weakly at the girl, who flung her flowers aside and hurried to hug him.

"I-I was so worried, I thought, and we didn't know... And I thought, thought you were..." Sakura rambled, clinging to him, as tears welled up and she buried her face against his shoulder.

Sasuke nodded dully, but made no move to hug her. Indeed, after the initial moment of luxuriating in the warmth of her body against his, he wanted her off him. He wanted her to stop touching him, to stop crying against him. He wanted her to go far away and leave him alone.

She disgusted him. Weak, weak... Loyal, but weak.

"Get off me," Sasuke said harshly, and, at her silence, he shrugged her off and shoved her slightly. "Go away. I don't want you here!"

"S-Sasuke-kun-"

"Go! Get out of here! I don't want you here! You're weak, you're pathetic; I don't need a weak girl like you!" Sasuke shouted, venom in every word. She tried to say something, but her eyes welled up, and tears began to flow; Choking back a sobbed, "sorry," she hurried out of the room.

Sasuke sat there for another moment, feeling something inside him sicken. He ignored it, though; he had more important things to do: He had to kill his brother. He had to get strong enough to kill his brother. But how? His brother was the strongest Uchiha.

_"At the main temple of the Nakano Shrine, on the far right side, under the seventh tatami mat is the clan's secret meeting place," Itachi said, his compassionless eyes never leaving him. "You'll find what purpose the Doujutsu of the Uchiha Clan originally served. Hate me and survive... Awaken the same eye as mine... Prove your loyalty."_

Uchiha Sasuke quietly stood, despite his body's protest, then dressed slowly. He would discover the secrets that he needed to, and then he would prove his loyalty. Nothing would stop him.

Nothing.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino hated working the flower shop, especially lately, during what was nominally her training time. Still, in light of events, she had no real choice. Konoha was pretty much in upheaval: The Uchiha had been very important to the village, and, despite her new-found loathing for Sasuke, she couldn't deny he was, too.

Especially to her former-best-friend-former-rival-now-best-friend; to Sakura, the boy meant everything.

Allowances had to be made, considering the pink-haired girl's home life, but Ino felt Sakura was entirely too wrapped up in Sasuke. After all, there were other guys out there, guys who weren't total jerks. Guys who would defend a girl and her family's honor, who could look at you in such a way that you felt _drawn_ to them.

Yep, there were guys like that.

Ino absently nodded in agreement with herself, carefully keeping her mind from straying to the image of a certain blue-eyed team mate. Sighing, she propped her chin in her hand and stared sightlessly out at the nearly deserted street, wondering why the shop had to be open. Honestly, outside of Sakura, there hadn't been a single customer all day.

Not that she could blame anyone; the situation was serious.

The entire Uchiha Clan, as she had heard, wiped out by a single man. Worse yet, by a man that even she had heard described as the greatest ANBU they had. Her father had even hinted that he might be tapped as the next, and first ever Uchiha, Hokage.

Ino seriously couldn't put into words how much that frightened her; Uchiha Itachi had slaughtered his entire clan, save for Sasuke. In a single night, he had wiped out the strongest Clan of combat experienced ninja and still managed to escape the most powerful Hidden Village in existence. He was as strong as a Hokage, he was out there, and nobody knew why he had done it or if he would come back.

Lost in her fears and thoughts, she almost missed the flash of pink hair as it bolted in front of the store. Jerking as she realized what she had seen, Ino hurried to the door and opened it. She arrived just in time to see the girl shoving her way through a bewildered pair of older ninja, trailed by the sound of crying.

Instincts taking over, Ino left the shop and gave chase. Catching sight of the girl once more, Ino sped up, wondering what had upset the girl. "Sakura! Hey, stop! Sakura!" Sakura did, indeed, stop, and she turned to stare at her, and the look on her face broke Ino's heart.

Something horrible had happened, and, most likely, it involved Sasuke.

Reaching the girl, Ino slowed and then stopped by her side, made uneasy by the tears in the girls eyes. "Uh... What's wrong? S-Sasuke's okay, isn't he?"

"Y-yeah," Sakura admitted, seeming to wilt. "He, he's fine... Strong as ever... I-its me..."

"What about you?" Ino asked, carefully putting an arm around the other girl. There was no telling where this could lead.

"I-I went to see him, and he... He told me to leave him alone! That I was weak, that h-he didn't want me!" Sakura sobbed, turning to Ino and burying her face in Ino's shoulder "H-he's right, I... I try to be strong, but... I can't help him; I can't do anything! I can't stop anything! I'm Weak! Weak, weak, weak!"

"Ssh," Ino said in surprise, confused as to how the normally strong and confident Sakura was reduced to this. Then she remembered this wasn't the first time Sakura had cried about something,; when they had first met, the girl had been crying...

"M-my dad... H-he used to t-tell me that I was pathetic and... t-that I..."

Ino saw where this was going and realized she had two options. One was the brutal, honest truth: Sasuke was wrong, Sakura wasn't weak, and her dad was scum. The second was to make an excuse for Sasuke and condemn the dad. The healthy thing, Ino knew from her own dad, would be the truth. The thing a friend would do...

"He was wrong," Ino said softly, rubbing Sakura's back to calm her down. "Your dad was wrong. You're not weak or anything. Sasuke is just... He just lost his whole Clan; he's upset and lashing out."

"H-He's right, though. I am weak," Sakura said, clinging tighter to Ino. "I-I, I'm not suppose to be crying. It doesn't, I didn't, he just said, and I-"

"Hey, you're just a tad emotional," Ino said, feeling increasingly awkward by the minute. "I mean, you were upset 'cause you know your boyfriend was hurt and then he tells you he doesn't want you? Yeah, I think you're entitled to have a bit of a break down."

"I'm not," Sakura managed, firmly and sounding disgusted. "I should be stronger than this, strong enough for Sasuke-kun."

Ino wasn't quite sure what to say now,. Sakura was really acting strangely. At least she wasn't holding onto her so tightly or sobbing uncontrollably. Frowning, Ino tried to figure out her next few words when a familiar, and loud, voice decided to interject and startle them both.

"Oi, Ino-chan? Eh, Sakura?"

"Naruto-kun?" Ino said, pulling away from Sakura and turning with a surge of relief rushing through her. Blond hair, blue eyes, dirty face, and scuffed up clothes. Impulse dictated her next course of action, and she hugged him tight, then, pulling away, she stared at him, wondering why he was looking at her funny, and her own cheeks were heating up. "Are you okay?"

"Er... Well, yeah; bit tired from all that training," Naruto said slowly, scratching the back of his head before glancing at Sakura. "What's goin' on? Everyone seems all upset, and, er, why was Sakura crying?"

"It's, Naruto-kun... The Uchiha were..." Ino stopped and then glanced at Sakura, then back at him, willing him to understand.

"Oh," Naruto said, apparently getting it without needing to be told. "That explains a lot. Well, I'm going to get ramen."

"Are you kidding?!" Ino shouted, staring at him in disbelief. "You just found out that nearly a whole clan was killed and you're... going to eat ramen?"

"... Nearly a whole clan?" Naruto asked, blinking, his tone blank. "So, the village is upset because a few Uchiha are dead?"

"A few?" Ino said loudly, staring at him in disbelief "TRY ALL OF THEM! All of them except Sasuke are dead."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking stunned. "Damn... That's... Wow... Well, I guess I'll get pork ramen, then."

"ARE YOU INSENSITIVE OR WHAT?!" Ino screeched, unable to believe the boy and his cold attitude. Where was the Naruto from the Forest of Death, or in the tunnels with the Kumo-iki? The one that was so, well, brave and gallant?!

"No, just that...well, if that bastard Sasuke is still alive, why's Sakura so upset?"

"'C-cause I'm weak!" Sakura half -sobbed, suddenly glomping onto Naruto, much to Ino's irrational annoyance.

"Uh, Ino-chan... A little help? Please?" Naruto, managed looking at her in confusion.

"Sasuke called her weak, I told her it was just 'cause of the grief," Ino explained, managing to extract Sakura from Naruto. "I was going to suggest we talk to him, but she's too upset right now."

"Ah," Naruto said nodding slightly, and, to her surprise he latched back onto ramen. "Then let's all go get some ramen; maybe some Shoyu ramen for Sakura? I think I'll stay with Pork ramen; Ino-chan, what kind would you like?"

"Are you still stuck on ra-" Ino started, then stopped, realizing that, as callous as Naruto seemed to be, he was actually trying to do something nice for Sakura. Ramen was, in Naruto's world, a fix all cure. "I think... pork ramen would be fine."

"Great!" Naruto said, a grin appearing on his face. "Then we'll all go talk to Sasuke, right? Well, you two at least..."

"W-wait," Sakura said, for the first time sounding more like her normal self. "Sasuke-kun, I know him; he won't listen to us. No matter what, he won't listen to me _or_ Ino."

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Ino asked, slightly confused, but pleased to see the girl pulling herself back together.

"I mean, me and Ino could talk to him, but he wouldn't listen, not really," Sakura explained, wiping at her cheeks. "See, Uchiha, they're big on strength. Constantly proving strength, getting stronger, fighting strong people."

"Well, that's fucked up," Naruto commented with a slight scowl.

"So, so, Naruto, you're the one that's gotta talk to him.," Saukra said, as more command than suggestion. "See, you're- Sasuke, he knows you're strong. Kiba, he's strong, too, but they can't stand each other."

"What, and I'm his best friend?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"No, but you, you can talk to him as an equal, and... You can defend yourself better if he-"

"Snaps?" Naruto supplied helpfully with a frown.

"Exactly," Sakura said, apparently grasping for something to make Naruto agree. "P-please, talk to him. Make him see that he's still got things, that he's still got me. That I'm not as weak as he thinks, that I can help him be stronger."

"So, I'm supposed to convince that prick A, you're still his, B, that you're not weak, and C, you can help him be stronger," Naruto repeated blankly.

"Yes," Sakura agreed, nodding firmly. "I'm asking you for help. According to Kurenai-sensei, knowing when to ask for help is a sign of real strength."

"Ahuh," Naruto said, shooting Ino a disbelieving glance.

Ino returned it, knowing that look. Naruto wouldn't do this; no matter how much Sakura asked, he had no intention of talking to Sasuke. He might, though, if Ino asked too... But she doubted it. Ino doubted she had that much influence over him, but he did seem to listen to her, and Sakura needed the hope.

Glancing at Sakura, seeing the determination there, and knowing how much this meant to her friend, she sighed. "Naruto-kun, please, talk to him."

"You want me to talk to Sasuke for you?" Naruto said evenly, but Ino saw the brief flash of anger and hurt in his eyes.

"For Sakura, please, talk to him," Ino added, unsure why she bothered, except that it was important to make sure he knew why she had asked.

Naruto stood there for another minute, glancing between her and Sakura before exhaling in annoyance. "Fine," the blond said, rolling his eyes. "You guys go eat or whatever, I'll go talk to that prick. He's in the hospital, right?"

"Yeah," Ino said, nodding.

"Naruto, thank you," Sakura added, but Naruto merely waved her off as he started walking away.

Ino, however, stared after him, lost in thought. He was just so strange, she really didn't understand him and that frightened her much more than it should.

* * *

The most disturbing thing about the district was not the chalk outlines, nor the tape denoting it was off limits. It was not the drying blood or the fact that he kept having abrupt flashes of death. It was the silence, the way that his footsteps echoed and bounced off the empty buildings.

The way, if he let himself, he could feel the ghosts of his clan watching him.

Nakano Shrine seemed especially rich with them, the silence beyond unnatural. It was a silence filled with a darkness, as if it was born directly from Jigoku. Still, Sasuke trudged up the stairs, remembering his last visit, when he had come with his mother to pray for good fortune for the Chūnin Exams.

Passing under the orange and black Torii and ignoring the purification trough, he paused, black eyes staring listlessly across the perfectly cared for stone pathways. There, to the left, was the Bugaku stage, and, to its side, the Ema sat discreetly with its wood plates of unfulfilled wishes. To the right, just on the edge of the shrine yard, was a forest, the branches filled with Omikuji, and the boundary marked by countless Shimenawa.

Sasuke, however, had his eyes focused only on the two structures in the middle of the shrine yard. Surrounded by the cloistered roof was the Haiden and, behind it, the Hoden, both of which sported the typical peaked roofs. Following the path, Sasuke took in the wooden shishi, placed under the eaves of the buildings to ward of evil spirits. They gave the shrine a sort of haunted beauty in light of recent events.

Skirting the Haiden, Sasuke let his eyes sweep the Hoden and its hip-gabled roof of ceramic tiles. It was a sort of sprawling building, with two L-shaped corridors and a tail corridor, set on the edge of an artificial pond. Climbing the steps quietly, Sasuke slid open the door and entered the building.

He stopped once more, staring at the walls, where small relief carvings of the celestials resided, then focused on the mats on the far right side.

"The seventh tatami mat," Sasuke murmured to himself and then, heedless of the disrespect to the shrine, he walked through the room in his shoes and upended the padded mat. Descending the stairs he found there, he shivered, breath frosting slightly in the air, as the knowledge filled him that he was a year early to be entering this place.

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dimness of the secret chamber, a moment to sweep the place he had been forbidden until his fourteenth birthday. It was eerie to see, the flickering of the candles causing the shadows to dance over four empty cushions. Then he spotted the small alcove and the modest altar where a scroll sat.

Turning, he quietly approached, stopping long enough to take in the two paintings on either wall. One he knew as Sojo-bo, the Tengu leader, and the other was Susannowa. Why they were here, he had no clue, but his unease increased as he spotted the fading script on the wall above the scroll and altar.

It was a warning, a promise that the truth would forever change those strong enough to decide.

Reaching out, he carefully grasped the scroll, and, undoing the worn straps, he unrolled it. A scroll that revealed the Uchiha Clan's darkest secrets, the bitterest of betrayals, told of how to awaken the true Sharingan. It proved Itachi correct, and Sasuke hated him all the more. Sasuke promised to avenge his family because, despite their disloyalty, he had a loyal duty as a son to see vengeance brought to their killer.

He wasn't sure how he left, or why. He wasn't aware that he was even moving. His mind was lost for a moment in a sea of revenge and disbelief over what he had learned. Then, suddenly, he registered the fact that he was entering the home of his mother and father. That he was just outside their doorway, and his mind was assaulted with a wave of despair as his memories played out their last moments.

With a shaking hand, unsure why he was doing so, he slid the door open and approached the chalk outline disturbed by the stain of blood.

His vision blurred from unshed tears, to which tears he refused to give in. He had to be strong, strong enough to gain the power to kill Itachi. To bring vengeance upon his family's killer because, no matter how right Itachi was about the betrayal of the true purpose, he had betrayed his mother and father.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, willing his tears away. Opening them, now dry, he let his breath out slowly before speaking. "Leave."

"Eh, can't... We gotta talk," Naruto's voice said from the open doorway.

"I said," Sasuke drawled, turning to face the orange and blue clad boy, face set, "to leave. This is my home, my Clan's district. Here, my word is law."

"Ahuh," Naruto said, with a slight nod. "Sure, right after we talk."

Sasuke mastered a flash of annoyance, an urge to assault the boy. Anywhere else, anywhere but his parents' home, he would have. Instead, he fixed the boy with a gaze that said, quite clearly, 'go on,' and waited.

"... Y'know, not sure what to say now," Naruto admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"So, why, exactly, are you here?" Sasuke sighed, annoyance lacing his words.

"Made a promise to a girl," Naruto shrugged. "She seemed upset."

"Sakura," Sasuke conjectured, frowning.

"Yeah, her... I'm supposed to tell you that she's still yours, that she's not weak, and that she can help you be stronger," Naruto said, scowling slightly.

"So, she asked you for help? That's her sign of strength? Is that how she's going to help me?" Sasuke asked derisively. "Staying with her, playing with Kiba, none of that will help me get stronger."

"Look, I know that you lost your family. I know that you're hurting and upset," Naruto said frowning slightly. "It hurts, beyond words, when you're the only one. When you're alone at night and you know that... There's nobody there for you."

"Shut up," Sasuke said sharply, unable to believe the gall of this fool. "You don't know what I lost, you can't even begin to understand what I feel. How empty or alone... You have nothing! You never had a family, never understood what they meant, what a mother or a father mean-" A moment later, he felt a kunai graze his cheek and then heard it thunk into the wall behind him.

"I would shut up Sasuke," Naruto grated out in a cold tone. "You're on a pity parade. Oh, boo hoo, you lost everything. News flash, you have memories! You can remember your family. You can close your eyes and see them; you can dream about them and all those good times. The hugs and the love. All I've ever, EVER, had is nothing. I've spent my whole life on the outside looking in at the families around me."

"Hn, that still doesn't mean you understand," Sasuke snorted.

"I don't understand? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!?" Naruto shouted, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Imagine praying and wishing for a family, for a brother, a dad or a mom, for thirteen years. Then, one day, you find out about them, only you get them torn away becuase they're dead. I understand perfectly well what it means to lose your entire family in an instant."

"Is that it?" Sasuke asked, glaring at the boy, willing him to leave. Wanting him and his 'I know everything and am more special than you' attitude out of his home. When Naruto merely continued to stare, Sasuke increased his glare. "Leave, and tell Sakura that I don't need weak people trying to help me."

"Whatever," Naruto shrugged turning to leave, only to stop and glance back. "But you seem pretty weak yourself, so maybe you should think about accepting her help."

"You think I'm weak?" Sasuke said incredulously. How could Naruto even come to that conclusion? It made no sense. "I. Am. Not. Weak. I am an Uchiha, I am the most gifted of ninja. Even compared to you, who has some talent, I am better."

"Then prove it," Naruto challenged, turning partially around to glare at him, a frightening tone in his voice. A tone that betrayed his inner anger and turmoil, that planted doubt into Sasuke's mind about his own strength.

"Fine," Sasuke shot back, his own anger rising and his voice betraying all the emotions that Naruto had. "The arena where we fought in the Chūnin Exams, I'll prove it there."

"Why should I fight you?"

"Because," Sasuke said challengingly "a Hokage would."

"Fine."

* * *

"Akamaru, are you sure Sakura went this way?" Kiba asked, rushing after the small white dog who was darting down the semi-deserted streets. They had just left the hospital, from which Sasuke had disappeared, creating a mild panic in doing so.

Kiba, being the instinctive person that he was, had set out to find Sakura. If anyone would know where the boy was, it would be her. Akamaru had easily picked up her trail; her perfume was very distinctive to the dog.

"Yep," the dog said before coming to a halt in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "She's in there..."

"Ino." Kiba sighed, resigning himself to dealing with both girls and their insanity. He opened the door and entered, spotting both girls quietly talking and drinking tea. Snorting, he walked further into the shop.

"Kiba?" Ino said, causing Sakura to turn and stare at him in surprise.

"Kiba? Is something wrong?"

"Well, yeah," Kiba drawled, crossing his arms. "I heard about the Uchiha thing, so I went to see Sasuke; figured you'd be there."

"I was," Sakura said, looking depressed. "But he... threw me out-"

"What?!" Kiba exclaimed, eyes wide. While he didn't exactly get along with Sakura and Sasuke perfectly, they were his team mates, and he did consider Sakura a friend. "When I find that-"

"It's okay," Ino said, sounding earnest. Kiba opened his mouth to berate the girl, but found Sakura nodding as well, and he wondered what they had done. "We asked Naruto-kun to go talk with Sasuke."

Kiba blinked, looked at Akamaru, then back up at the two earnest females across from him. He had to have misheard that, because it sounded like they had just said that they sent Naruto to talk with Sasuke. No, nobody could be _that_ stupid.

"We knew it was just 'cause Sasuke-kun was upset and in turmoil, so we asked Naruto to go talk to him about it," Sakura explained, as if all was right in the world. "They're equals right? So it's best if they talk things through."

"Hold it, back up," Kiba said, staring at both girls in disbelief. "You sent Naruto, a boy Sasuke hates with a passion, to talk about feelings?"

"Yeah," Sakura said nodding.

"... Let me rephrase," Kiba said weakly, unable to believe their stupidity. "You sent Naruto, who hates Sasuke, who in turn hates Naruto, to talk about feelings... Without supervision?"

"Well, yeah. What's with that look?"

Wavering, Kiba put a hand against a flower stand to support himself. "Please tell me you two don't actually think this will end pleasantly..."

"Hey!" Sakura protested, eyes narrow. "We are two of Konoha's best Genin kunoichi!"

"Yeah!" Ino added just as firmly, but obviously startled at Sakura's words.

"And yet," Kiba drawled resigning himself to the horror unfolding before him, "you're both so horribly deluded. C'mon, Akamaru! I'm selling the tickets and I want a good view for when they start killing each other."

"What makes you think they'll kill each other?" Ino asked, sounding unsure of herself.

"You were unconscious for their fight during the Chūnin Exam, right?"

"Well, I was a little out of it, but no I saw it..." Ino answered, scowling slightly. "What does that have to do with-"

"Then what's your excuse, Sakura?" Kiba asked, cutting the girl off.

"Well, they're both orphans now, right? They can bond over that!"

Kiba paused, then blinked, as if seeing Sakura for the first time. For someone so smart, she could be awfully stupid. He could see the dawning fear in Ino's eyes, but Sakura looked utterly oblivious to the danger she had put the boys in.

Which led to Kiba making, probably, the wisest decision of his life. "Never perform medic-jutsu on me. EVER."

* * *

Naruto felt his heart racing, his mouth was dry. Everything seemed too crisp and loud, and above all, surreal. He was back in the Chūnin Exam arena, where he had defeated Lee, and Unity had broken out. Across from him was Uchiha Sasuke, the boy he was supposed to be talking to and was now about to fight.

Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who was the top Academy student, who was from the Clan everyone hailed as combat geniuses. Who could see through his Kage Bunshin, his Meisai Gakure, and follow his unaided Shunshin. Who could copy and then use any technique Naruto himself used.

Naruto couldn't help but grin and fix his gaze on the Uchiha's torso as Anko had taught him. The shoulders would tell him when a punch or block was coming, the hips would tell him when a kick or a step was happening, and the way his body twisted would tell him which way he was dodging. From there, while applying Hebi, Naruto would systematically take the enemy apart.

It was a momentary stillness, the moment between heart beats, an inhalation and an exhalation, then suddenly Sasuke moved. He shot forward with a speed that was startling; it was almost like Lee, but just a bit slower. Definitely faster than the last time, though. It caught Naruto flat-footed, but he saw the shifting weight and then the round kick.

Defending with an outter forearm block, he slipped the left foot forward as his body moved unnoticed, and he slammed a punch into Sasuke's stomach. The dark haired boy stumbled back, recovered, and threw a hook punch. Reading the shift of weight and seeing the angle of the arm, Naruto ducked and, with another unreadable movement, caught Sasuke with an overhand punch to the cheek.

Sasuke stumbled again, then hissed as Naruto drove a reverse side-kick into his ribs, followed by a step-jump sidekick. The Uchiha hit the ground, rolled back to his feet, and recovered. Grinning, Naruto darted forward, then skidded to a stop, leaning back to avoid the punch while his foot came up for a front kick.

Sasuke grunted, then reeled away from the follow -up blow of an uppercut.

Cocky, Naruto moved in once more, sure that he had the boy on the ropes. Ducking another punch, Naruto shifted his weight in classic Hebi style, his arm sweeping back for a hammerfist... And then jarred to a stop as Sasuke caught it. Eyes widening, Naruto whipped his head around in time to see the smirk and have a fist slam into his mouth.

Shaking his head while retreating, Naruto scowled before ducking another kick and trying to counter. This time, he received a back-fist, then a sidekick, then a spinning hook-kick, which sent him sprawling to the ground with a spin. Rolling to his feet immediately, Naruto stared at the Uchiha, who was now staring at him like a wolf on the scent of a wounded rabbit.

"You know," Sasuke said, slowly moving in a wide circle, "that style is very dangerous. Very deadly. Nobody within the Uchiha has _ever_ figured out how to counter it..."

"Until now," Naruto supplied, wondering if he was messing it up.

"I'm sure you're wondering how," Sasuke said, coming to a stop behind him. "It's not that I can follow your movements. You disappear utterly from my sight when you move. It's not because you're messing up, and it's not because I'm fast enough to react."

"So?"

"It's because I can hear you," Sasuke gloated. "The shift of gravel under your feet, the rustle of your clothes, the slight rattle of your weapons."

"...Didn't know your hearing was that good."

"It's not; I couldn't fight you just by hearing," Sasuke admitted, still not moving. "Haven't you ever heard that if both you and your opponent are first-class ninja, you can read each others minds when you fists meet? I'm a genius, and I know how you fight, I'm the only person ever to experience this style more than once."

"Aha," Naruto nodded, scowling in thought, thinking of a new tactic.

"We've fought three times," Sasuke said smugly, and Naruto rounded suddenly, charging head on. A wild right, which was easily dodged, then a sudden left round-kick, which was blocked. Sasuke countered with a straight jab into Naruto's face, which sent him stumbling. "There's no need for words between us."

Then, the Naruto he had just decked, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sasuke stared for a moment, eyes wide, struck momentarily dumb. "Kage Bunshin?"

"Hey Sasuke," the real Naruto said from the right, his fist slamming into the boy's cheek, sending Sasuke twisting through the air before landing in a heap. "Anyone ever tell you that you talk too damn much?"

Seeing the pure malice in the boy's face, Naruto couldn't help but grin. Still, he was aware of the gamble he had played. Sasuke was right: They could reach other's minds to an extent. He had known that, once Sasuke got talking, he would let his Sharingan fade, that his attention would lapse slightly. Had counted on it so that his rapid kawarimi, combined with a shunshin, combined with a kage bunshin would work.

"Fine, no more talking," Sasuke spat, on his feet once more, eyes spinning into the red and black of the Sharingan. Naruto grunted and charged, only to catch a front kick to the chin.

Flipping from the blow, Naruto managed to land on his feet and rebound with enough speed to blur past Sasuke. Ducking a right punch, Naruto pivoted and came in from behind, slamming a side kick into the boy's back. Sasuke went sprawling, but managed to regain his feet and twist around. Naruto was already moving, but Sasuke moved faster, closing the gap while his left hand reared back for a punch.

Naruto was nearly blind-sided -Sasuke was moving faster than him- but he managed to partially block the punch and drive his own vertical punch into Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha gasped, stumbling back, and Naruto moved to follow up, only to have Sasuke recover and dart back in, dodging his punch and moving around him. Turning, Naruto pulled a kunai to throw, only to have Sasuke catch him in the ribs with a side-kick.

Hitting the ground, Naruto skidded before managing to flip himself back to his feet. Dodging back from a vicious diving kick, Naruto formed the tora seal and exhaled sharply. The Futon: Dappitoa roared into being, only to be countered by a massive ball of flames.

For a moment, there was a deafening roar and hiss, then, with a flash, the two jutsu exploded, hurling both users back. Naruto landed expertly, panting and burnt, confused about what exactly had happened. As his eyes darted around him, though, he could guess; there were flames all over the place, burning merrily.

"Heh. Wind might be the ultimate attack move against other elements, but against Fire it's nothing," Sasuke panted, but he looked as bad as Naruto felt.

Using the moment, Naruto regained his feet and went back on the offensive. He formed and launched a Kaze no Yaiba, watching in satisfaction as Sasuke was forced to dodge. Then, as the boy landed, Naruto Shunshined forward, slipping under a punch and coming up with a palm-heel aimed for the chin.

A split second before impact, however, Naruto was skidding along the ground. Coming a stop, the blond dazedly scrambled back to his feet, which was all Sasuke needed to bind Naruto to a tree with several thin, but strong wires. Struggling, Naruto swore, then, sensing something, snapped his head up. Racing along the wires, heading right for him, was an unchecked mass of flames.

It took half of a heart beat to recgognize the danger, and another to realize the only thing he had free were his hands, which prompted him to think about the Kaze no Yaiba. Those flames were almost on him, he could feel the heat. He knew a normal Kaze no Yaiba would be pointless, he needed something bigger.

The beginning of the new heart beat saw him begin to figure out how to create this miracle, the completion saw him frantically begin trying to do the impossible.

The result was spectacular.

The Kaze no Yaiba that he unleashed utterly decimated the area before and around him, shredding the wires, toppling trees, and scattering the flames like leaves. He'd used his entire body as a medium for the blade of wind, and, as he collapsed to his hands and knees, he couldn't help but gasp. He felt as if he'd just trained for a full month non-stop.

Looking up, he saw the devastation clearly in the orange and yellow light of the surrounding fires. He'd left a series of deep gouges in the earth, severed the few trees present in half, and the far wall looked as if a giant meat cleaver had slammed into it. Then he spotted Sasuke, who was looking both stunned and more than a little afraid.

"W-what the hell was that?!" Sasuke managed, his shirt shredded and his arms sporting several shallow cuts from where he had just barely managed to dodge in time.

"Heh," Naruto panted, pushing himself back to his feet. "Kamikaze no Yaiba."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he flashed through two seals, unleashing a series of fireballs. Naruto, still a bit winded from his newest move, used his body once more. This time, he managed a brief gust of wind, which, surprisingly enough worked as a shield. Which only seemed to infuriate Sasuke, who shot forward with a Shunshin, catching Naruto in the face with a sidekick.

Sprawling to the ground with a spray of blood, Naruto shook his head to clear it and stared up at Sasuke. Seeing the beginning of the tora seal, Naruto quickly preformed a Kawirimi with a rock. Reappearing, heart hammering in his chest, Naruto tried to clear his mind. This fight, so far was in his favor, slightly, maybe; Whatever Sasuke had been doing it had definitely payed off.

Hebi style was rendered almost completely useless; Naruto would have to work on fixing the flaws later. He still had his ninjutsu, though. No matter what Sasuke said, they were almost even there. Actually, all things considered, Naruto started to see that he was actually winning this fight.

Yes, Sasuke had figured out a counter to the Hebi, but big deal. Naruto had figured out a counter to the Sharingan seeing through his Shunshin. It was a matter of perspective, and Naruto was starting to see that, no matter who won the most taijutsu exchanges, he was still stronger.

"Running away?" Sasuke asked, apparently having taken the moment to calm down as well.

"A Hokage never runs away!" Naruto shot back, forming one of his favorite seals while glaring at the Uchiha. "TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUSTU!"

"RHAAAA!" the mob of Naruto's roared as all of them charged towards Sasuke, who, in what appeared utter boredom, used Daitoppa against them. Naruto swore and performed a hurried Kawarimi with a nearby log, even as the hundreds of clones were blown away along with the log. Sasuke, however, wasn't fooled this time and shifted smoothly into an unfamiliar seal, which resulted in Naruto being swept away as the ground became a river of mud.

Frantic, he struggled against the river even as Sasuke formed even more seals to create a dragon from said mud and send projectiles at him.

Mud projectiles that Sasuke promptly ignited with yet another jutsu.

Freaking, Naruto did the only thing he could think of. He molded the largest amount of chakra possible and formed the tora seal, unleashing a truly devastating Futon: Daitoppa. The wind started as a gentle hiss, then turned into a full blown roar reminiscent of a dragon.

By the time the blast of wind was finished, Sasuke had hit a rock hard enough to create spider webs; the jutsu's he had been using were scattered as if they were nothing, and Uzumaki Naruto was left standing stooped, but unbeaten. Panting, Naruto watched as Sasuke, in a righteous fury, regained his feet and glared at him with such murderous intent it was frightening.

Still, it was obvious, no matter how much Sasuke threw at him, Naruto was still stronger. Which meant he was no where near ready for Itachi, that he wasn't strong enough. Sasuke seemed to reach the same realization as Naruto did, but he didn't accept it. Instead, he seemed even more enraged, more incensed, and his Sharingan seemed to change ever so slightly.

"You want to see my strength? THE STRENGTH OF THE TRUE UCHIHA?!" Sasuke screamed, forming a series of rapid seals before clutching his wrist. Naruto realized it was the same move as at the exam, and, though he still didn't know what the jutsu did, as he watched that chakra form and began to crackle, he realized it was deadly. It was not a move to be used if you intended only to win; it was move for murder, plain and simple.

Naruto felt the shift in his mind, from his mask of normalcy and into his true-self, and he created a Kage Bunshin. There was no hurry, no fear, just a simple knowledge that someone was about to try and kill him. Naruto wouldn't let that happen. He would meet this full speed, he would kill the enemy first. His bunshin began molding chakra into his right hand, forming the minuscule hurricane of the Rasengan in his hand.

Then Sasuke screamed and shot forward, little more than a blur. Naruto's clone grasped his wrist, spun, and hurled him like a cannon ball toward the charging boy. The Rasengan swirled in Naruto's hand, and the Chidori crackled in Sasuke's; and, with an ear splitting screech, the two moves crashed into one another.

Light scattered. The sound of a deep rumbling filled the air, and, for one brief moment, the world went white. Naruto pushed, strained, striving to push through the lightening and kill Sasuke. The ground seemed to tremble from the impact as the two forces continued to fight, continued to push against one another.

An immovable maelstrom, and an unstopable lightning.

Debris took to the air. Dust and the single pool of water began swirling violently. Then, with an earth-shaking roar, something gave, and both boys were thrown away from each other with bone -breaking violence. Naruto hit the ground hard, rolled, skidded, and came to a rest in a heap near a boulder. Sasuke landed much the same way, coming to a stop near a wall.

For a moment, all was still. Then, slowly, tiredly, Naruto stirred. Sasuke struggled to sit up; Naruto heaved. Both shinobi regained their feet, turned to stare each other down, and prepared to do it again. Naruto was not going to stop, not until he had killed his enemy, though he did hesitate as he saw what appeared to be small black flames begin to creep across his face.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice suddenly shouted, causing Naruto's attention to shift to her and then he looked back at Sasuke, whose skin was now normal once more and had collapsed to one knee. A second later, Sakura had flung herself into the boy, nearly knocking him to the ground. Naruto frowned, watching the coldness on the boy's face as the girl cried against him.

Meeting the Uchiha's gaze, Naruto spoke, his tone challenging, letting him know that he would kill him if they fought any more. "So, what's it going to be? We keep fighting, or you accept that you still have something worth taking care of?"

Sasuke stared at him, eyes meeting his challenge, then those damned red and black eyes faded, and the dark -haired boy sagged against Sakura slightly. He said something, too soft to be heard; Sakura sobbed harder and clutched him tightly, muttering something back.

"That was fuckin' awesome!" Kiba's voice shouted from the stands, joined by a bark from Akamaru. Naruto spared them a brief glance, then turned to leave the three friends alone.

He was brought up short, however, by Ino, who was standing behind him. She was going to say something, but instead remained silent, her eyes widening as she met his gaze. It took him a moment to understand why and then, quickly he slipped back into his carefree mask, scratching the back of his head. "Hehehe. So, I talked to him like you wanted!"

Ino stood there for another moment, then hugged him tightly, and Naruto couldn't help but just stand there in surprise.

When she pulled back, he wondered why she was crying too.

Awkwardly, Naruto put a reassuring hand on her shoulder while squinting. "Er... You okay, Ino-chan?"

"I'm fine," Ino said, hastily wiping her eyes and backing away slightly.

Naruto blinked.

"How about some miso ramen? My treat," Ino asked, then squeaked as Naruto glomped her.

* * *

The office was cold, impersonal. Without the Hokage, its owner, the room was only an office and Hatake Kakashi hated it. Not that the masked ANBU Commander, who was seated behind the desk, could do anything to change that.

Three hours ago, shortly after Sasuke had managed to escape the hospital, the Hokage had slipped into a coma.

Kiyoshi gave the man a day at most.

This was why Kakashi had not spent more effort trying to locate Sasuke, because there had been other more important matters to contend with at the time. The Hunt for Itachi had went south, with countless teams reported missing and then there was the Village Council who had protested his continued status as 'Acting Hokage'. They wanted to select a full-fledge Hokage, but Kakashi had a duty to the Sandaime to ensure that the old man's last wishes were followed.

Those orders had been for Kakashi to remain the acting Hokage until Tsunade arrived. If she declined then Kakashi became the Godaime Hokage, if she accepted he was ANBU Commander. The council had been vocal in wanting proof of this final order and Kakashi provided proof in the form of paperwork that the Sandaime had signed, thinking ahead as he always did.

So for the moment, Hatake Kakashi was the Hokage and he was using an office he hated. Waiting finally, for the ANBU to locate and bring him Uchiha Sasuke. He was silently considering the reports on the desk concerning the Uchiha Incident when he heard the door open and looked up.

There was Ajishiki, phoenix mask polished brightly, hand heavy on the smaller boys shoulder. Uchiha Sasuke looked distracted, but now there was an intensity to him that had been missing.

Kakashi wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"So, where'd you find him?" Kakashi asked brightly, glancing at Aijishiki happily.

"We located Uchiha-san, Haruno-san and Inuzuka-san within the exam stadium," Aijishiki said crossing her arms. "Haruno Sakura and his teammate are currently being questioned. Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino were present but they were gone when we arrived."

"That's ok, Anko will find them soon enough since she wants to gut Naruto." Kakashi said, eye closing happily "Besides, I don't need to speak with them that badly. So how exactly did you find them?"

"Kaede-san was alerted by a massive surge of chakra in the arena. They arrived in time to see Uchiha-san and Uzumaki-san clash with what appeared to be the Chidori and the Rasengan."

"Rasengan?" Kakashi asked, eye widening in surprise. So that was what Jiraiya had taught Naruto. It wasn't too surprising the Sannin had taught it to the Yondaime's only living relative, but it was surprising to know that Naruto could use it so soon.

"So, let me ask," Kakashi said, turning his attention toward Sasuke "why exactly where you two fighting?"

"We wished to prove which of us would have won in the exam." Sasuke said curtly, so curtly that it was obviously a lie.

"Of course," Kakashi said, nodding slightly at the ANBU who with a bow left the two alone. A moment of silence filled the office, as Kakashi studied the defiant and annoyed Uchiha. Sasuke reminded him vaguely of himself, arrogant and cocky.

It was time to put things into perspective for the boy. "Do you realize that lying to me could get you tossed in an ANBU cell?"

"I am not-"

"I'm the ANBU Commander; I can tell when a Genin is lying." Kakashi said sharply "but I don't care about why you two fought. I've known young ninja, you fight over stupid shit."

Sasuke's jaw muscles tightened.

"Now then," Kakashi said slowly, staring him down "we're going to talk about something more important than you and Naruto's pissing contest. I want answers for something we learned after the Uchiha need for secrecy and privacy finally blew up in our faces."

"Which is what, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked with an utter lack of manners.

"Mangekyou Sharingan."

"It is a private clan-"

"See that's the thing," Kakashi interrupted, his tone carrying a dangerous undercurrent. "There is no Uchiha Clan now. There's just a rude boy, named Uchiha Sasuke. Now when you can produce an heir, we'll say there's a clan, until then you answer me or spend your time rotting in an ANBU cell."

The anger, the resentment, it burned bright in Sasuke's eyes and Kakashi smiled behind his mask. Ah Genin, so transparent, hey're emotions were so raw if prodded just the right way.

"What do you wish to know about it?" Sasuke grated out, eyes narrowing.

"I know it's a secret, advanced Uchiha Doujutsu. I also know that it's somehow forbidden or evil." Kakashi said leaning forward, elbows resting on the desk "Tell me what you know."

"The Mangekyou Sharingan," Sasuke said slowly, precisely "is a Doujutsu that is rumored to exist but has never been seen since the founding of the Uchiha. It is said to be capable of great things, but that the users always bend the power toward evil ends."

"That's it? You know nothing else, how to activate or how to counter it?"

"That is all I know, there are no records that deal with this fable." Sasuke said, crossing his arms "I, of course, checked all known Uchiha records when I left the hospital. Many that might have contained information were destroyed by...the traitor."

"If you are keeping information from me, you'd be putting this village at great risk." Kakashi said, then seeing the way the boys face remained unchanged he sighed. Sasuke really didn't seem to know anything else. "You can go now, I'll be in touch."

Sasuke nodded, and then turning sharply stormed out of the office. Kakashi remained silent for a moment, until the door opened and an ANBU entered silently. "Keep him under watch, just in case he knows something and is lying. Also, tell Anko that after she's done beating Naruto I'd like to talk with them both."

"Right away!"

Alone once more, Kakashi sighed and closed his eye. He had never wanted to be in this position; it had never been his dream or goal to be Hokage. Kakashi sincerely prayed that Tsunade accepted the job.

If not, Kakashi would be extremely tempted to offer it to Naruto, just for the hell of it.

* * *

_::Termionalgy Guide::_

**Ema:** Wooden plates where wishes are written and then left at the shrine in the hope that they come true.  
**Torii:** Wooden (or stone) arch-like structure at the entrance to a shinto shrine, usually painted red.  
**Jigoku:** In Japanese Buddhism, one of the many hells, the lowest form of existence.  
**Bugaku Stage:** Stages for bugaku dance or noh theater performances.  
**Purification Trough:** Found near the entrance, the water of these fountains is used for purification. You are supposed to clean your hands and mouth before approaching the main hall.  
**Omikuji:** Fortune telling paper slips found at many shrines and temples, and by tying them to a tree's branch, good fortune will come true or bad fortune can be averted.  
**Shimenawa:** A straw rope; It marks the boundary to something sacred and can be found on torii gates, around sacred trees and stones.  
**Honden:** The main hall of a Shinto shrine.  
**Haiden:** Offering hall of a shinto shrine  
**Shishi (also called Komainu):** A pair of guardian dogs or lions that traditionally stand guard outside the gates of Japanese Shinto shrines. They can also be found on the eaves of both shrine and temple roofs. Some temples, dedicated to Inari use foxes.


	26. Chapter 25: Hokage

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 25:  
_-Hokage-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

_The fire of the shadow,  
illuminates the village... _

* * *

It took all of her will power to pass between the familiar green gates of the village, a village she had sworn never to come back to if she could help it. It was a village filled with painful memories, memories she had tried desperately to forget. It had prove futile however, since she always had the niece of her dead lover at her side.

Shizune was a constant reminder for Tsunade that she had failed her precious people. That her lover had died in the field, his blood on her hands and face. It was a wound that she could never close because of Shizune, and, though part of Tsunade hated her for that, the other part was thankful. Having it constantly reopened meant she could never forget him and, by proxy, never forget her brother.

Glancing at her former team mate, the biggest pervert she had ever met, she noted the pained look on his face. It took her a moment to realize that they were traveling down empty streets, places that held no bitter memories for her. Another moment was needed to figure out that, to spare her the pain of remembering, he was torturing himself with this route.

Heh, that school-boy crush he had for her was still in effect apparently. "Ever the Gallant Jiraiya, eh?"

"I made you a promise once," Jiraiya said, giving her a look that made Tsunade's insides squirm uncomfortably. Tsunade looked away, remembering the last time she had felt like this. Part of her resented Jiraiya for revealing that she still had people who could make her feel bad.

"Uh, Jiraiya-sama," Shizune said hesitantly from behind them. "S-shouldn't we be heading for the hospital?"

"I got a message a before we entered the village," Jiraiya said somberly. "It's best to head directly for the Hokage Tower."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow, then realized what that meant, and part of her still-surviving heart died just a little more. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Come on," Jiraiya said by way of reply.

Minutes later, they entered the somber tower. Tsunade noticed the looks they garnered, but brushed it off. Her mind and heart were in turmoil at the moment, and all that mattered was whatever final business the old man had for her to deal with. A minute later, as they reached the hallway to the Hokage's, office she blinked at the feminine voice echoing from inside.

"-AND AFTER I CUT THEM OFF I'M GOING TO SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR FUCKING THROAT!"

"WHAT THE HELL?! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT FREAKIN NEVER TOLD ME I WAS A CHŪNIN!" a male voice shouted back just as angrily.

As Tsunade entered the room, she found a dark-haired woman wearing a long trench coat shaking an orange and blue figure with wild blond hair.

"I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU IN KUSA!" the woman screeched, shaking him even more violently.

"WELL YOU DIDN'T, AND IF YOU TRY IT NOW I'LL KILL YOU, YOU PYHSCOTIC BITCH!" the boy screeched back obviously unintimidated.

"Aa, Anko, he does have a poin-" the familiar genius student of the Yondaime said from behind the Hokage's desk.

"YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS!" Anko snapped, making the masked ninja cringe.

"Er... I missed something, didn't I?" Jiraiya said, speaking up for the first time.

"YEAH!" Anko shouted, rounding on him as she tossed the blond boy away from her. "That little prick decided- wait, is that Tsunade-sama?"

"Er...yeah," Jiriaya said blinking.

"You actually found her? What, was she working off her gambling debt in a brothel or something?"

"Tsunade...brothel..." Jiraiya said, sounding wistful.

"AHEM!" Kakashi said, standing up and attempting to assume command over the office. "I think this can wait. We have other business to discuss."

"Oh no, don't mind me," Tsunade said with a snort. "After all, you only sent the world's biggest pervert to drag me back to a village I loathe with a white hot passion to save a sensei who died before we even got in the gates."

Sighing, Kakashi sat back down, eye dropping slightly. "So, I suppose offering you the job of Hokage is out of question?"

"Gee, let me see," Tsunade drawled sarcastically. "Do I want a job that has a hundred percent death rate? Uhmm, hell no. If that's it, I'm leaving now."

"Tsunade-sama, Konoha needs your strength," Kakashi said anxiously, rising slightly.

"What Konoha needs," Tsunade said fixing him with her glare "is to realize that no matter what pretty words they use, there will never be peace. Every Hokage has been a fool for risking their lives stupidly for an impossible dream."

"Tsunade-sama, you encouraged the Yondaime," Kakashi said, sounding reproachful "surely you couldn't have changed so much in so little time."

"Age changes people," Jiraiya offered sounding bored "and sometimes not for the better."

"Whatever," Tsunade snorted, crossing her arms "being a Hokage is bullshit. No one but a fool would do it."

"Well at least stay and take over the medical-" Kakashi tried to reason before a loud, irate voice interrupted him.

"Just let the bitch go."

Blinking, Tsunade turned to stare at the blond runt she had initially overlooked as just some random Chūnin. For him to be speaking like that denoted a lot of confidence and when no one started berating the boy, Tsunade realized there was more to him than just being a Chūnin.

"Naruto, this is Tsunade, the legendary medic." Kakashi explained, instead of berated "Even if she's not willing to be Hokage, we could use her to help bolster our medical care."

"Fuck that," Naruto said, glaring at Tsunade, arms crossed. "I wouldn't want such a cold hearted bitch in my village, Hokage or not. Saying all of that, I don't know or care why, but I want her out of my Village."

"Heh. Arrogant little bastard," Tsunade remarked to Jiraiya who was palming his forehead, before focusing on the blond. "What the hell do you think you're doing talking? This isn't any of your busin-"

"Oi, like hell it ain't!" Naruto shouted, stalking up to her, head craning back to stare at her. "I, more than anything, want to receive the Hokage name... So this damn well is my business! SO, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY VILLAGE BEFORE I KICK YOUR GODDAMNED ASS!"

Tsunade opened her mouth, prepared to thump the little bastard with her finger and rip his head off. But that look, the sheer determination, it made her hesitate. It struck her hard, reminding her painfully of two others. She could see a reflection of Dan there, and of Nawaki, and it felt like a shard of glass dug itself deeper into her heart.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring at him, but suddenly she realized he was gone and everyone was staring at her. Looking at Jiraiya, the only one she could stand to speak with, she raised an eyebrow. "Who the fuck was that?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Jiraiya was a legendary ninja, more than that; he was an expert on women. That was why he had gone to retrieve Tsunade, because only he could convince her to come back. Just like how it was only him that knew just how pissed off and confused Tsunade was now.

Naruto had spoken up, told her the truth and had done it in such a manner that had forcibly reminded the slug tamer of two ghosts in her past. Ghost's that she would never be able to banish, no matter how much sake she drowned herself in. Hence why he had settled himself into a chair while Shizune chased off after an irate Tsunade, and he had smiled at an irritated Anko as she realized Naruto had escaped her clutches.

Now alone in the office with the masked man, the Sannin was feeling marginally better. It was no longer his burden to care for the village; his debts now almost entirely paid off. All that remained then was to make ensure the protection of Minato's son.

"Jiraiya-sama , I need to-" Kakashi started to say before the Sannin interrupted him.

"I know the Sandaime died this morning, but this place feels like it's got oni as well as a Shinigami prowling the streets. " Jiraiya paused and gave Kakashi a pointed, knowing look that clearly ordered he be told the exact state of affairs.

"Its, a very tricky thing to explain," Kakashi temporized before leaning back in his chair "of course you know about Unity and the state that's put us in. Well we also have the subtle fact that one of our own, Uchiha Itachi, turned on us. He wiped out his whole clan, except for his younger brother, though there were rumors about another survivor but they turned out false."

"Ah," Jiraiya said with a slight nod, knowing that things had to be extremely bad for the village at the moment.

"But really, there's nothing to be too concerned about." Kakashi said in a falsely cheery tone.

"Kakashi," Jiraiya snapped warningly, needing to know and not appreciating the way the man was trying to hold back information.

"You're like sensei, always able to tell when I'm holding back information."

"Well, I did teach your sensei so it shouldn't be a big shock." Jiraiya said with a wary smirk.

"Good point," Kakashi allowed, his shoulders sagging "with the death of the Sandaime village moral is at an all time low. Our strength is severely depleted, thanks to Itachi and the fact that he slaughtered his entire clan and numerous ANBU teams. Oh and also thanks to Unity and its little soiree during the Chūnin Exams paranoia and distrust is running high between the various clans, regular forces and the governors."

"So basically, we're lucky none of the other villages have realized just how easy we'd be to annihilate right now."

"Exactly," Kakashi said with a slight nod "though at least then we'd have a common enemy to draw us all together again. Still, there's no avoiding the fact that our forces are compromised and nearly non-existent. Of the ANBU and Jōnin lost during the Unity battle, those who died fighting against Unity easily outnumber the dead Unity members five to one."

"Meaning that Unity effectively shrunk those ANBU and Jōnin that you can trust and then melted back into the crowd, so now you have no way of knowing who is who."

"Exactly, and with the numbers shrunk along with now being the official Hokage, I have to appoint new people to key positions and I'm risking the chance that they're Unity." Kakashi shook his head, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "The Military Police is under the control of the Hyūga aided by the Inuzuka so at least there's that."

"Still, you have a black ops force you can't entirely trust."

Kakashi nodded, looking at him in almost desperation. "I have no idea what or where this could be heading; an ANBU I can't completely trust, a Military Police weaker than ever ran by a Chūnin, having to bolster our ranks by promotions that are too early and then lowering the graduation age for the Academy to increase our Genin numbers."

"Heh, the more things change the more they stay the same." Jiraiya mused, staring off into the distance silently remembering back during his childhood. Back when the minimum graduation age for the academy had been thirteen, only to change to ten as war broke out.

"Jiraiya-sama, please," Kakashi said, drawing the toad hermit from his brief trip into the past "I don't have the energy to be the leader our people will look up to. If Tsunade-sama won't do it, please take the title of Hokage and lead us."

The Sannin stared at the man, and admittedly, he was tempted to take the offer. His dream at one point had been to be Hokage, despite Tsunade and Orochimaru's ridicule. As Hokage he could do a lot of good, he could also enact a law that required all hot kunoichi to wear bikini's at all times, but ultimately he rejected the idea.

He was too old, too jaded; he trained Hokage's, but he could never be one himself. The bitter truth about being a Hokage was not for him and he knew it. Sighing heavily, the Sannin heaved himself up and then shook his head.

"I've been out of the scene for too long, the people need a leader they already know. One that they trust," Jiraiya paused, a small grin on his face. "For better or worse, you're the Godaime Hokage now."

"...but do you have any idea how hard it is to get five minutes alone to read my precious Icha Icha?"

"If you think that's bad," Jiraiya shot back breezily "imagine me trying to get five minutes alone to write you're precious."

"Hmm, maybe this is for the best after all."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was not a perfectionist, nor was he obsessive. However, he was determined to be better, determined to be Hokage. Hence, he was now in a slightly remote training area, practicing the moves Anko had taught him as well as other things that he was creating on his own.

Mostly though he was trying to figure out how to silence his movements.

Without even looking at the post or moving his body, Naruto struck, driving his kunai as far into the post as humanly possible. Producing another one, he twirled it and then struck again, moving beyond the basic move into a more advanced strike. He struck repeatedly, advancing each level as he went, unable to rationalize how the style was flawed.

He knew he was moving without telegraphing, without looking at where he wanted to strike. The only real had to be the noise he made as he moved, but he couldn't even hear it, so he had no clue how to fix it. Sweating, he paused, frowning as he stared at the training post riddled with bladed weapons. Then feeling someone approaching from behind he turned to find the buxom woman from the Hokage's office behind him, and he couldn't help but glance at the cleavage on display.

Shaking that off, he looked up at her, scowling. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing much," Tsunade said lightly. She offered Naruto a smile that he recognized as insincere from the start. "You just impressed me earlier with all your talk. I just had a couple questions, really."

"Like I care," Naruto muttered, turning back to his post and eying the worn wood.

"Do you know," she started, her voice soft, capturing his attention, "what it means to be Hokage?"

At this, Naruto stiffened and slowly turned back to face the older woman. With a voice as serious as sharpened steel, he replied, "Yeah. I know."

"Then maybe you also know it's pretty much suicide," Tsunade said, with a nasty sneer. "You look pretty dim, but I didn't think you'd be stupid, kid. Then again, Yondaime was a genius Shinobi, and look how foolish he turned out to be."

"The Yondaime was the greatest Hokage!" Naruto retorted angrily, flexing his hands. Whatever personal resentment he held for his dad, the Yondaime _had_ been a great Hokage.

"Oh, you're right. He was the greatest Hokage," Tsunade retorted waspishly. "Out of all of them, he's the only one that didn't leave a family member behind. He didn't leave a wife or a sister or a grandchild or a niece to cry and deal with his self-righteous, selfish desire to be a 'hero'."

"You have," Naruto grated out, walking toward her slowly, "no idea what Arashi left behind."

"Arashi?" Tsunade repeated blankly, before a knowing look flashed in her eyes. "Oh, is that it... You think, just because you two look alike that you're related? Knowing Jiraiya, he's let you believe that too hasn't he."

"My dad died killing the fucking Kyūbi," Naruto shouted angrily. "He gave everything, everything, to save this village. Every Hokage has! I will, too, because this village gave me a chance! I was hated, loathed, ostracized for the first twelve years of my fucking life, but they GAVE ME A CHANCE! This village let me grow up, despite the vast majority thinking I was a spy! I have a friend and family because of the chance they gave me! IF I HAVE TO REPAY THAT CHANCE WITH MY BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS OR EVEN MY DAMN LIFE, I WILL!"

"Can you even hear yourself?" Tsunade mocked. "'They gave me a chance, I'll repay that with my life.' If you're expecting gratitude, you're an even bigger fool than the Yondaime. Nobody cared, nobody. You got that chance because that stupid old man let his sentimentality get in the way. Do you really want to throw your life away for that?"

"I will pay that price," Naruto growled, eyes narrowing dangerously, "so that this village can give the same chance to someone else when they need it. I'm not a coward, and I won't disgrace my important people by running. I will make my life count for something, just like the Billy Goat, just like Arashi..."

"You just don't get it!" Tsunade snarled viciously. "No matter what pretty words you use, that dream of yours is stupid and suicidal."

"I don't care," Naruto growled, slamming his fist into his hand, "what you fucking say! Being Hokage is the greatest thing anyone can do! Insulting the Hokage is the same as insulting this village, the dreams, the precious people inside it!"

"What will it take to make you realize that stupid little kids shouldn't joke about foolish dreams-"

"Oi, what about you?" Naruto said cutting her off, his anger burning brighter by the second. "What have you ever done in your miserable life that mattered? Did you even try to make your life count? Or did you just run away the first chance you got?"

"My life- You can't even understand my life! I've lost more than you'll ever understand!" Tsunade said, glaring at him. "I've lost everyone precious to me all because they believed in the same foolish dream."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking down before looking up at her. "So, you betrayed them? You ran away from them?"

"Shut up!" Tsunade growled menacingly. "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT-"

"Oi, I'm right aren't I? You ran away from them. You made their lives count for nothing; you turned your back on them and the village that they loved. You're a coward."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Tsunade shouted, tears beginning to form.

"I bet they're proud, huh? What were there names... Or have you forgotten that, too?" Naruto mocked, stomping closer. "You coward! They must be rolling over in their graves-"

"SHUT UP!" Tsunade roared, cutting him off as the back of her hand slammed into the side of his head.

Naruto's world exploded at the impact, his body hurtling through the air before he landed with a sickening crunch against the base of a tree. His mind reeled, trying to function despite the pain. He could taste blood, his blood, and suddenly his heard cleared and he regained his feet.

With a roar, he charged the lost-looking woman, concentrating the chakra in one hand while striking with his other to form the ball of chakra. A moment later, his arm swept back with the Rasengan swirling in the palm of his hand. "TAKE THIS YOU BITCH!"

Tsunade seemed to snap out of her stupor, surprise on her face, and then drove a single finger into the ground.

The resulting splitting of the earth made Naruto stumbled and drove the Rasengan into the ground. A moment later, he went spinning backward from the force of the Rasengan to crash heavily into the ground. Wincing, he sat up, and then swore at the deep ravine that was now racing along the ground just to his right.

As he turned to shout at her, Tsunade's hand grasped his neck firmly and yanked him up. Struggling, he grasped at her hand, and then tried to punch her, only to have her slap him. Blinding pain exploded through his head once more, and Naruto couldn't help but scream; that had been worse than any hit from Anko.

Lashing out with a kick, he managed to connect with her chin, before suddenly being driven into the earth with a 'thump'. His back arched at the impact, his body exploding with yet more pain. Coughing, he struggled to sit up, but realized he was pinned by the vise-like hand around his throat.

"Hokage is not something you or anyone needs to be dreaming about. Kids have died, adults have died, OVER THE FUCKING DREAM OF BEING HOKAGE!"

"S-so?" Naruto wheezed, wincing as her hand spasmed and she lifted him once more to dangle in the air.

"It's a death sentence," Tsunade said evenly, dropping him contemptuously. "Give it up and be happy..."

Struggling his way to a crouch, Naruto coughed, surprised at how much his body was hurting if almost felt as if he had broken his bones. Looking up at her, he narrowed his eyes. "F-fuck you," Naruto panted, disturbed by the coppery taste of blood filling his mouth.

"Don't be a fool! Just give it up! Forget about being Hokage!" Tsunade shouted, tears beading in the corners of her eyes. "No matter how much you think you're different you'll die! Why won't you realize that?! Being Hokage, dreaming of being Hokage, is a death sentence!"

"So what? I'm going to die someday, anyway. I'd rather my life meant something! I'm not a coward; I won't run away, no matter what!"

"You... Why won't you...do you even understand what being Hokage will cost you?" Tsunade asked, the sheer pain in her voice disturbing.

"Oi, I understand..." Naruto managed, glaring at her. "But, shouldn't you be asking yourself what running away and being so cold is costing you?"

Tsunade stared at him, crying and then stumbled back a few steps before turning quickly and leaving him there in the clearing. Naruto stared after her, utterly confused, then stood rubbing at his jaw, wondering for a moment about what had happened. Then turning he started practicing once more.

Maybe he would talk to Anko later about this, well, after the woman had cooled off a bit more.

* * *

_...and so a new leaf sprouts._

* * *

Konohamaru wasn't sure what to feel at the moment, which was understandable really. They had just finished the long, drawn out ceremony to honor his grandfather, and he was left standing pretty much alone. Asuma had, after a few hollow words, moved off to speak with Kurenai, while Moegi and Udon were off together, ignoring him.

Soaked to the bone, Konohamaru stared at the rain-slicked picture of his grandfather in silence. He should say something, he supposed, but what was there to say? Hell, he hadn't even been able to see the old man before he died. How fair was that?

Thankfully, it was still raining -well, drizzling- which made the tears he couldn't stop invisible. The last thing he wanted or needed was people feeling sorry for him. Looking away from the picture and to the mountain high over head, where he could see his grandfather's face, he felt a small spark of anger.

Why had his grandpa died? He was the only real family Konohamaru had left, damn it! It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair! Fighting back a slight sob, he turned to leave, but found his path blocked by someone. Craning his head back, he felt momentary surprise at seeing the blonde boy known as Naruto.

He looked so serious, his black clothes adding an air of importance. The blond looked down at him after a moment and tilted his head slightly. "Konohamaru."

"N-naruto," Konohamaru managed, wondering why he felt more intimidated by this boy than normal.

"So," Naruto said after a moment, raising an eyebrow. "I heard you got some ass-kicking in a while back."

Konohamaru blinked, put off by that. Everyone else had shouted at the idiocy of his actions; Udon and Moegi were treating him as if he had intentially set out to get them hurt. "Yeah, sorta, I guess...I mean, I tried..."

Naruto's lips twitched, and he reached out to ruffle his hair. "Oi, from what Anko said, you held up against an ANBU for a minute. That's not bad for an Academy brat, ya know?"

"Brat?" Konohamaru repeated blankly, before glaring. "I'll have you know I'm the best in my year!"

"Heh, I guess that's impressive, but remember: there's a difference between being first in school and being first in the field," Naruto intoned wryly. "So, so, don't you normally have those two other brats hanging around?"

Konohamaru winced, then hesitantly explained the situation. About how his decision to fight that ANBU had gotten them hurt, how they had told him they wanted nothing to do with him. It wasn't long after that he was talking about his own thoughts on the fight and how he had wished he could have done better.

Naruto remained silent through everything he had to say, then blinked as he finally came to a stop. Konohamaru took a breath and let it out, feeling a bit better now that he had actually talked to someone. Glancing at the picture on the table once, more he looked back at the older ninja intent on asking for some training only to have Naruto start talking.

"Your grandpa told me something once. I figure you should hear it too," Naruto said, then, pausing, stared up at the Hokage Mountain in silence for a moment. Looking back at him, with a slightly pained expression on his face, Naruto reached, out putting his hand on his shoulder. "See, we're all going to die sometime, and all we can do is protect everyone that's precious to us until then."

Konohamaru blinked, then shifted uneasily. That had sounded rather bleak actually, but wise in a weird sort of way. Sorta like he was saying to make your life count for something.

"Yeah, it sounded better when he said it," Naruto admitted with a shrug.

"Niisan, that sounded just fine," Konohamaru admitted to a startled Naruto. Then, he noted the drizzle was finally relenting.

* * *

Sighing, Ino closed her umbrella, relishing the ability to quit looking so stupid. Her mom had insisted on it however, so she like many other girls had stood under the umbrella. To Ino, it had made her self-conscious, as if calling attention to the fact that she was a self-absorbed brat.

Naruto hadn't seemed to notice though; he had been standing next to the new Hokage and the two Sannin.

Still, Ino was at least thankful not to be Hinata at that moment. The Hyūga girl had stood against her will under an awning next to her father and younger sister. Talk about conspicuous.

Sakura somehow had managed to forgo the umbrella and stand proudly in the rain next to the Uchiha she was so in love with. Then, thinking about how depressed the girl had been, Ino unintentionally sought her out. Sakura was walking away, hand in hand with Sasuke.

Many took him to be depressed, but Ino had seen him up close. She had seen the look in his eyes, the set of his jaw. He had withdrawn, but he was a storm brewing. There was danger written in his countenance that everyone else seemed oblivious to.

Despite that, Ino felt a stab of jealousy as she watched the two of them. Not because of Sasuke, but rather for the fact that Sakura and Sasuke both had someone to comfort them. Someone to help them through things, to simply care, because Ino knew that Sasuke did care in some way for Sakura.

So while Ino had her family, it wasn't the same and she was jealousy. It would never be the same as when Sasuke would seek and hold Sakura's hand. Or the possessive way Sakura would hug Sasuke and not let go.

"Ino?" Turning at the sound of her mom's voice, she blinked, staring up at the reproachful woman. "Can I say something?"

"Sure," Ino allowed, turning slightly too jealously watch Sakura and Sasuke.

"No Uchiha ever actually loves anyone," her mom said softly, moving closer. "At least, not as we love people. It's pointless to love him if he can't love you back."

"Mom-" Ino started to say before her mom continued undaunted.

"If you love him, it's because he's safe. We Yamanaka are never satisfied with being safe..."

"I'm not in love with him," Ino said with a note of pain. "I just... I just want someone to care about me, just a bit, and not like you and dad care for me."

"Oi, you okay?" Naruto's voice suddenly interjected, prompting Ino to turn and look at the blond. "You look like the old man at the restaurant whenever I mention not being hungry."

"I'm fine," Ino admitted semi-distractedly. "I'm just, ya know, like, really sad and thinking."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to Ichiraku for some ramen," Naruto said, sounding dejected as he glanced from her to Sasuke and Sakura, then back. "Thought I'd see if you wanted to come along, but I guess not..."

Ino blinked, confused at his actions. That had been so unlike the Naruto she knew. She considered going after him and asking what was wrong, but ultimately decided against it. Sighing she turned to say something to her mom but, froze at the slightly disappointed look on the woman's face. "What?"

"You know dear, it's not wise to ignore a granted wish. The Amatsu-kami might not appreciate it," her mom said with a slight reprimand in her tone.

"What are you talking about?"

"He came over here to check on you," her mom responded, nodding at the retreating Naruto. "I think that qualifies as caring."

"Mom," Ino said in annoyance then paused. Actually her mom had a point, which was scary. Ino didn't like it when her parents were right. It upset the natural order of things and it was annoying as hell.

"Oh, well. I have to get back to the house and start dinner. Your great-aunt is coming over for supper. At least, if Inoichi can get her to agree, but I don't know if he can, from what I hear Tsuande-sama is very fickle."

Ino nodded absently, staring at Naruto's retreating back. He was her friend. Definitely not her boyfriend or even a crush, Ino was sure of that. But, Ino could also admit she was a bit infatuated with him.

It was hard not to be after all, considering the time she had spent with him.

She was still the only one he trusted with the truth about his family. He had helped her cope with her first kill, he was an okay guy, and he had defended her several times.

More importantly, he seemed to care.

"Do you think I could invite someone?" Ino asked after a moment, glancing at her bemused-looking mom.

"I suppose so."

Nodding, Ino started after the boy muttering to softly. "I knew I was right about the black."

* * *

Shizune had searched the village as unobtrusively as possible, searching for her sensei. Tsunade however, had somehow managed to disappear and the only logical place that the Sannin could be at was the gates, waiting to slip away in silence.

Approaching the massive gates leading out of the village, Shizune hugged the pig in her arms just a tad tighter. There was a lump forming in her throat at the mere thought of leaving, Shizune didn't want to leave, but she couldn't just let Tsunade go off on her own.

She owed her uncle Dan; Shizune was responsible for keeping Tsunade from getting out of control. Though Shizune had to admit that she had not always done that job, for the first few months all Shizune had done was torment her mentor. This woman had let Dan die and Shizune had clung to that rationalization for a long time.

Until she realized that Tsunade was already, torturing herself far worse than Shizune could ever hope to.

After she realized that, Shizune realized that Dan had loved her, and that she should not be torturing Dan's love. She should be trying to protect it, trying to help it heal. But Shizune was a clueless child; she had no idea how to do that so she had settled on keeping Tsunade grounded.

Sighing, the medic-nin looked at the gates, and then blinked, realizing that they were sealed. Slowing to a stop, the dark haired woman looked around curiously, wondering where Tsunade was. By all rights, the Sannin should have been her, she was a creature of habit and this was where they had left from last time.

"Ton, tonton!" the pig squeaked softly wiggling in her arms.

"Tonton?" Shizune whispered looking at her pet, then lost her grip, letting the pig fall to the ground. A moment later, it went skittering away, off to the left, past the benches and into the park where Shizune remembered a lake being.

Running after the pig, Shizune wondered why until, panting, she came to a halt just at the edge of the park. Sitting against a tree overlooking the moonlit lake, was Tsunade, who was now cradling the pig in her arms. Shizune noticed belatedly the open sake bottle and saucer nearby.

"Ah, uh, Tsunade?"

"Shizune, you know I came here once when I was younger," Tsunade said, staring at the lake absently. "I was a Genin, and Jiraiya was trying to be, un-Jiraiyaish. I called him on it. Asked what the hell he was thinking would happen. You know what he told me?"

Shizune blinked and then brushed her hair behind her ear. She wasn't sure why her master was saying this, and it was bit unnerving. "No."

"He told me, admitted, he was a pervert," Tsunade said with a perfectly straight face. "He always would be, but he wanted me to know that, when it mattered, he'd be gallant for me."

"So?" Shizune prompted gently.

"I laughed in his face and said 'The Gallant Jiraiya? Stick to peeking up skirts, you pervert.'" Tsunade said sourly, before sighing. "But he always kept that promise. Every time I needed someone to be gallant, Jiraiya kept his promise."

Shizune nodded silently, wondering what was going on inside the older woman's mind. Was it just a trip down memory lane before leaving? Or was there another reason, perhaps related to that dinner with her distant family or the blond boy they had met in the Hokage's office?

"This village is filled with nothing but bitter memories for me," Tsunade said distantly, looking up at her. "He was gallant again today, and I realized that he was the last one I should ever lash out at."

"I don't understand," Shizune said shifting her weight, wanting to know and be on their way. "Tsunade-sama, aren't we leaving?"

"We'll be staying for a while. I've agreed to take over as the Director of Konoha's Healthcare program." Tsunade said, glancing away

"So we're staying?" Shizune asked blankly stunned by the turn of events.

"Yes, until I know," Tsunade said sighing, "if he deserves the cursed necklace."

Shizune nodded and sighed, feeling a bit relieved. It looked like she would be staying, like she had wanted to. But then she realized what Tsunade had said, and she wondered who 'he' was.

"I'll have to see Kakashi about arranging a mission to escort me; I have a lot of work to do before we can really settle down."

"Wait, mission? What mission?"

* * *

Kakashi couldn't help but sigh, settling into the chair silently. He still felt like he was intruding on the Sandaime, kept expecting the old man to show up and claim his place. But Kakashi knew that wouldn't be happening: The Sandaime was dead and buried.

He was officially the Godaime Hokage, and, as a glance at the clock on the wall confirmed, it was nearly midnight. Nearly seventy two hours into his official reign, and he was seriously considering letting Naruto just take over. Shaking his head, eye drooping, he instead looked at that stack of paper work on his desk.

Studying the papers, he glanced at his so-far unread Icha Icha book. Looking between the two, he wondered, which he should choose. On the one hand, he could handle the paper work, which was mostly pointless red tape, or he could read his precious.

The responsible thing would be to handle the paper work. The Kakashi thing would be to read his book. Weighing this heavy decision, he stumbled across the most obvious answer: He created a single Kage Bunshin and sent it off with the paper work.

Chuckling at his ingenuity, he picked up his precious and, flicking it open to his book mark, began to read. At least until he felt a presence in the office. Snapping his head up, he found one Mitarashi Anko standing in front of the desk, munching on her trademark stick of dango.

A sudden chill swept over him as he realized what this meant. He was in an empty tower with a woman that not only had a proven unstable personality but whom he had also slept with. "Aa, Anko? Is there, um, a reason you're in my office so late?"

"Well," Anko said, a grin that didn't reach her eyes, on her face. "I was sorta hoping to discuss a few things with you, Hokage-sama."

"Ahahah," Kakashi managed, reaching up to scratch the back of his head, his eye closed in nervousness. "What, exactly, did we need to talk about?"

"Well first, to remind you that the Sandaime agreed to only give me and my team B-rank or higher missions."

"Er, that was only for you and Naruto," Kakashi mused, then seeing her look continued "however, I wasn't planning on changing that. After all, your team has two Chūnin and a talented Genin, so they're perfectly qualified for such missions."

"Good, good," Anko nodded, taking a vicious bite out of her stick of dango, causing Kakashi to wince. "Now, I have a mission I want you to reserve for me."

"A mission?" Kakashi echoed blankly. "What mission and why?"

"The basics are simple enough," Anko said, holding her fingers up as she ticked of the requirements. "First, I need it to be an assassination mission, hence Rank A. Second, it needs to be performed solo. Three, it needs to be relatively quick and to the point, with no gray areas."

Kakashi stared at the woman curiously. True, some ninja made such requests, but Anko had never been so particular. Sensing something else at play, he sat back in his chair, studying her features. "Before I agree to this, who exactly did you have in mind for assigning it to?"

"Naruto," Anko said simply, with a shrug. "Who else would need or be ready for such a simple mission?"

Kakashi blinked then sat forward, eye wide as he stared at her. "...I haven't even had a full week as an official Hokage, and you want me to give Naruto a solo, A-Rank assassination mission?"

"Yeah," Anko said, munching on her dango happily.

"...Do you hate him?" Kakashi asked weakly, then, at her scowl, sighed. "Then it's me; you hate me, right? This is to get back at me for using Sasuke as a messenger during the exams."

"No, that's just a perk," Anko admitted, sitting on the edge of his desk, rubbing the finished dango stick suggestively against her lips. "I was just thinking he needs to do at least one."

"Uhhhh..." Kakashi managed, his visible eye widening at the suggestive image.

"I'd be really grateful," Anko purred, before flicking the stick with her tongue suggestively.

"I, uh," Kakashi managed, then, as her coat slid down her shoulder, revealing a lack of fish netting he gulped audibly. "O-of course... er... Just as soon as we get o-one..."

Anko grinned at that and winked, hopping off the desk and tossing her dango stick away. "That's a good Hokage..."

Kakashi nodded numbly, watching as she sauntered out of his office and then, sitting back in his chair, let out a frustrated sigh. Kami, she knew just how to get him to do what she wanted. More frighteningly, Kakashi knew that, now that she had him committed, he couldn't back out for fear of her retaliation.

Anko was both very seductive and very, _very_ frightening.

* * *

Naruto sneezed once more, setting the small box of items down on the bed amid a cloud of dust. It was filled, of all things, with the various items he'd received while in the hospital. Rubbing his nose, he sighed. Over all, the house wasn't too bad, but it was definitely dusty.

Pausing, he mentally took stock of the house once more. It had an entrance area, which required opening another door to enter the actual house; a large living room with a modest kitchen located to the right of it; two large bedrooms; a bathroom, that **had** to be expanded with seals, since it had two separate showers, a bathtub that he could almost swim in and two sinks; and, to top it all off, a storage room.

The storage room was bugging him, though. As of yet, he'd been unable to open it, but Kakashi had warned him about things like that. As for the second floor, he hadn't been up there just yet, but he'd found the trapdoor ladder that he could pull down to climb up there.

Naruto was actually more concerned with trying to find some way of being comfortable here. Sure, he'd been alone in his old place, but now he was really isolated. He was thirty feet off the ground, on the side of a mountain. That was isolation if he had ever heard of it, plus that was another reason he had yet to spend a lot of time in the place.

Feeling his two Kage Bunshin expire, he sighed, feeling a slight stab of pain behind his eyes.

Ero-sennin had warned him about using the Kage Bunshin to relay information for the next six months, but Naruto had things to do. Namely, finish setting up his selected bedroom, which he considered the only enjoyable perk of owning a house. He could now look out over the village, with a breathtaking view, while denying the sun a chance to peek in at him during the mornings.

Best of all, the few windows on his house were one-way; the Yondaime really was a smart bastard.

Chuckling, he left the box where it was and strolled out of the second bedroom/current storage area and into the kitchen, where he collected an already prepared cup of instant ramen -Kami bless the Kage Bunshin!- and, a moment later, he was outside. Pausing to take in the impressive view of a forest waking up in the early morning, he sat down on the edge of the walkway that wrapped around his house and began eating.

In a rare moment of introspection, he mused about how much things had changed, how different the world seemed. The burdens he was carrying, the responsibilities; Anko, his team, Jiraiya, the Kyūbi no Yoko being sealed inside him... Kakashi as Hokage.

Now that just so strange he almost couldn't believe it.

Shaking his head, he set his now empty cup of ramen aside and leaned back on his hands, kicking his feet in the air. A moment later, he nearly fell as a voice spoke up from behind him. "Morning, brat!"

"Gah!" Naruto screamed, panicking and then, assuring he wasn't about to fall, turned to glare up at the grinning, white -haired Sannin, Jiraiya. "What the hell are you thinking, you pervert!?"

"That you'd make a great big red splat," Jiraiya remarked causally, sitting down beside him. "So, Kakashi gave you this place, huh? How do you like it?"

"S'okay, I guess. A bit empty, though," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "I grew up alone, so it's not really a big deal, and, I mean, it's great having a family house, but it's not the same as a family technique. I don't really feel like I belong here or anything."

"Heh, that's understandable," Jiraiya nodded. "The Yondaime didn't stay up here too much. It was his get-away spot, I suppose, but he sure as hell didn't live here."

"Ah," Naruto said with a nod, then, after a moment of silence, glanced at the older man. "So, so, what brings you by? There's not a swimming hole or bath around here, so you can't be here to peek."

"You really are getting smarter," Jiraiya said fondly before sighing. "Anyway, I'm here to see if you'd accept an offer to come train with me. We'd have to leave the village, even the country."

"Huh? Why?!" Naruto managed, startled.

"I'm a Sannin, plus I know a lot more than anyone else in this village. I could read underneath the underneath of the underneath in the report concerning Itachi. We need to get some control over _it_ quickly. Plus, if my sources are right, Akatsuki is going to start actively hunting for you."

"Akatsuki? Why?"

"Itachi is joining them, and Orochimaru has abandoned their ranks. The only reason he's not dead is because he's spilled the beans about you. They won't move openly -they never have- but they _will_ move, they've wasted too much time not to. This village wouldn't survive that sort of assault at the moment, each one is as powerful as any Kage, plus with Itachi on their side they'd especially have no problems getting in here and taking you."

"Damn it!" Naruto said loudly, glaring at the village, knowing that he was putting them in danger by remaining.

"Naruto, what I'm asking is hard, I know. If you stayed here, kept training with Anko, you could get strong enough to be Hokage. You wouldn't have to give up everything you've fought for. But staying is a luxury you can't have."

"I know. If I stay, those maniacs will come after me, and I'm not strong enough to stop them. I'd never be strong enough in time," Naruto said, lowering his gaze.

"They may not; they might need to catch other demons first. That could buy you some time."

"I can't risk that. I can't risk the village because I'm selfish. I have to do what's best for the village," Naruto said haltingly, as he pictured all his important people. "And everyone inside it."

"... Even if it means your life?"

"I'm going to be Hokage," Naruto said firmly, staring at Jiraiya, daring him to deny it. "I have to protect the village no matter what."

Jiraiya was silent for several long minutes, staring at him, then he grinned. "Heh, ya know what? I've known three Hokage's in my lifetime, and I've never met one that dressed in orange before." Getting up, the old man groaned. "I'll inform that brat Kakashi before I leave, I have to clear up a few things with my publisher, so a month or so from now, I'll come back and we'll start training. I'm pretty sure Akatsuki will wait for things to calm down around here before they start moving."

"Yeah, right, publisher." Naruto snorted in disbelief.

"You just talk to Anko and that girlfriend of yours, what's her name, Ino?" Jiraiya responded with a knowing smirk.

"What?! She's just my teammate!" Naruto protested, despite the heat in his cheeks.

"Ahuh. Face it, you like that green-eyed girl."

"Ino-chan's eyes are blue!"

"... And thank you for proving my point," Jiraiya said with a twisted grin before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"GAH!" Naruto shouted, grabbing his head in frustrated disbelief.

* * *

_The name Hokage is a promise  
to die to protect the village._


	27. Chapter 26:Mist, Unity and Gambling Debt

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 26:  
_-Mist, Unity and  
...Gambling Debt?!-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was not having a good day, then again considering the past few days it was not a surprise. First Ichiraku had been closed for renovations, and then he had discovered his serious depletion of weapons and other items a ninja needed. Then, because she couldn't kill him, Anko had apparently decided to torture him.

She had done something unforgivable; Mitarashi Anko had burned nearly all of his jumpsuits.

Leaving Naruto with only his Chūnin vest, the various shirts he had scrounged over the years and the tattered jacket he was currently wearing. Correction, the tattered jacket he was patching while his team mates trained. Naruto sat under a tree, sewing patches of orange into the tattered fabric, squinting as he worked.

The orange he was using wasn't even the right color but it didn't matter. As long as he could keep the jacket just a bit longer, then Naruto was happy. Ino still didn't understand his attachment to orange, nobody seemed to really; other than Rock Lee.

The two had only hung out together once and even then, it had been to beat the crap out of each other. Lee had managed to come out on top in that exchange, but that was ok since it had just been taijutsu. Still, Lee at least understood the importance of orange to Naruto, much as Naruto now understood the importance of green spandex to Lee.

For Lee, the spandex was a sign of his dedication of becoming a great ninja solely by using taijutsu. For Naruto, the orange was important because it made him stand out. It forced people to acknowledge his presence, because when Naruto had been growing up in the orphanage the children had been expected to just blend into the background.

People didn't want to notice children that nobody wanted or cared about. They had to dress the same, have the same hair cut, and most importantly stay silent. Naruto had been unable to stay silent and they had gone to great lengths to try to force it, though all attempts failed.

When he had been offered entrance to the Ninja academy, by a smiling Mizuki no less, he had been forced to leave the orphanage. Naruto had set up shop in a nearly condemned apartment building and for the first time he was allowed to pick his own clothes. It was by pure luck that he discovered the disgruntled shop owner ready to destroy his entire stockpile of orange jumpsuits.

Naruto had begged and pleaded; then happily took the free clothes.

After that, nobody ignored him. He refused to change; even in the face of Shinobi rule twenty 'A Shinobi must walk and hide within the shadows of deceit, he must not seek attention nor should he desire anything other than remaining hidden'. To Uzumaki Naruto, orange was a divine color, the perfect color, no matter what anybody else thought.

"Maa, Naruto-kun why don't you just buy a new jacket?" Ino asked suddenly and Naruto looked up to find the two other ninja breaking for lunch. Anko of course was busy trying to run damage control since Naruto had retaliated for burning his clothes, so it was just the three of them for the day.

"Why?" Naruto asked clueless, knowing of course that while Ino was nicer to him, she hadn't grown up like he had.

"Well, that jacket is ruined, so just buy a new one," Ino explained sitting down across from him "I mean you're doing really good at sewing, I can't even do that good a job, but still..."

"Aa, but Ino-chan, it's perfectly fine!" Naruto protested, holding it up proudly "besides its orange, there aren't any other orange jackets in this whole village!"

"Yes and Naruto, don't you remember Shinobi rule twenty?" Ino countered determinedly "'A Shinobi must walk and hide within the shadows of deceit, he must not seek attention nor should he desire anything other than remaining hidden' orange is hardly subtle."

"Bah, it's a stupid rule," Naruto said smiling at her before turning back to his work on patching his jacket "besides buying a new jacket when I have a perfectly good one is a waste of money."

"...Oh," Ino said with a note of sudden understanding and when he looked up he found her looking slightly embarrassed.

"Oi, what is it?"

"Well, it's just..." Ino paused, then her voice dropped "you grew up...without money...Naruto-kun it's ok to buy stuff you want. You've ran a few high-rank missions, you should have a lot of money. You can afford new clothes."

Naruto stared at her for a moment, unsure whether to feel hurt, angry or touched. Apparently, she saw what he was feeling, because she suddenly looked awkward and opened her mouth to say something when he beat her to the punch. "Oi, Ino-chan, it's not that I can't, or think I can't, afford stuff. I love orange, like you love purple, to me it's the perfect color. If I have a perfectly good orange jacket I see no reason to buy something I hate."

"B-but," Ino stammered with wide eyes "why do you like orange?"

"You know, as riveting as this discussion is," a new voice interjected and the two ninja looked around to find Kiba and Akamaru standing on the edge of the clearing "the Hokage wants to see you three."

"Kiba?" Ino asked, blinking.

"Oi, what's that masked pervert want," Naruto asked, not moving from where he was sitting. The dog boy blinked, before Sakura, Sasuke, and Kurenai arrived. "Eh, he sent you're whole team just to find us? What are you guys just messengers now?"

"No," Kurenai said eying him darkly, "I requested this as a training exercise in tracking."

"Whatever," Naruto said springing to his feet and throwing his jacket on before picking up his nearly empty weapons pouch.

"Kurenai-sensei, did the Hokage happen to mention why he wished to see us?" Shino asked walking over to join his team.

"Oi, probably wants to give us an A-rank mission!" Naruto said brightly, overriding the now openly irritated Kurenai.

"More likely he wants you three to clean up the shit in the Inuzuka kennel," Kiba said with a smirk "while we're doing the high rank mission."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's what your sister does," Ino shot back.

"No she doesn't!" Kiba retorted angrily, his smirk fading.

"Oh, then why else would she spend her time in a dog kennel on her hands and knees?" Ino asked with mock innocence.

Naruto blinked as her innuendo crashed through his brain, and turned to stare at a smugly grinning Ino, then turned back to the other team. The look of shock on Kiba's face was priceless, the sheer horror on Kurenai's was beautiful, Sakura's blush was interesting and Sasuke's wide-eyed surprise was perfect. He turned back to Ino and said the only thing he could think of. "Sweet kami, you're perfect!"

"Took you this long to figure that out?" Ino said lightly, smiling at him.

"If you two are done flirting," Shino said, walking between them and past the frozen team "the Hokage would like to see us."

"We weren't flirting!" Naruto and Ino shouted in unison and then hurried after him.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, I still don't see why I or Kiyoshi-san can't be allowed to go," Shizune said, handing the buxom blond a pack of scrolls.

Tsunade paused, a frown marring her features as she fixed her apprentice with a glare. Honestly, Shizune should have known by now not to argue with her over something like this. Then again, Shizune would be afraid of Tsunade trying to escape. As if, Tsunade had accepted the position as head of the Healthcare System in Konoha, she would not just abandon things after that.

"Kiyoshi has to stay here to make sure the hospital runs properly," Tsunade finally said, turning back to her packing. "You need to stay here to start making the changes I want, your better at that sort of thing than me. Also, for some of the people I'll be dealing with your...less than fully equipped."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune squeaked, arms covering her modest chest that was hidden away by the formless black kimono she always wore.

"Just being honest," Tsunade said, turning to grin at her apprentice "now then, just make sure things run smoothly and if they don't feel free to ask Kakashi to kill someone. He's gotta be good for something after all."

"Tsunade-sama, you shouldn't speak that way about the Hokage." Shizune chided, wagging a finger slightly.

"Hokage? I'm sorry, but I look at him and I still see Sakumo's snot nosed, whiney runt running around naked." Tsunade said laughing at the memory of trying to drink tea while this little kid ran around naked in the house. Sakumo had been so embarrassed, but the Sannin had assured him it was a relief to see a semi-normal kid, though Orochimaru had made a comment later about genetics.

Chuckling Tsunade picked up her Furoshiki and the suitcase of money, at her request they had paid her for a year in advance. Tsunade had figured if she would be making this trip she should try to pay off her more outstanding debts. Shizune had been thrilled at her decision, until discovering that Tsuande would be leaving without her.

"Tsunade-sama, please let me come along," Shizune tried one more time before the Sannin stopped and turned, glaring at her.

"I'm over fifty years old Shizune-kouhai, I think I can pay off my own debts while I get what we need for Konoha without getting into trouble." Tsunade snapped, then seeing Shizune quail, smirked "now you have fun and keep in mind that Hatake genetics are very generous."

Then with that, she left the small apartment, the door closing behind her with a 'thunk'. Whistling in amusement, the legendary strolled down the hallway, ignoring the looks of awe she received, and then out to the street. Oh to be free, Tsunade's soul sang, at least two weeks without Shizune nagging at her constantly.

Though she would never admit that to the young woman's face; after all Shizune was Tsunade's favorite student. Plus the girl had been there for her through some hard times so they were friends; it was just that Shizune could be bitchy at times. Part of Tsunade actually hoped that the girl ended up spending a night with the Hokage, maybe getting laid would loosen her up.

Passing the village park, Tsunade paused long enough to spot the various children at play then hurried along, her heart aching as she remembered playing with Nawaki there. A few moments later she passed the academy, quickening her pace, wishing to not remember any of the memories she associated with that place and three blocks later entered the Hokage Tower. The office workers of course froze upon seeing her, she was a legendary figure after all, but still parted before her.

It seemed to take no time to climb the stairs and enter the Hokage's office. The office itself was unchanged and she almost expected to find Sarutobi sitting at the desk, puffing on his pipe. The air should have been thick with the comforting scent of cherry or whatever flavored tobacco he had been using at the time. Instead, it was filled with the scent of air freshener and the Hokage who say behind the desk was only in his mid-twenties.

"Hey Kakashi, you got my team yet?" Tsunade asked approaching the desk, staring at the masked man who didn't even bother to look up from his book.

"They should be downstairs, I've sent Kotetsu to bring 'em up," Kakashi said, causally turning the page of his book "I hope you don't mind, but I found a team that can anticipate your every move."

"...I don't need babysitters," Tsunade grated out darkly.

"Oh no," Kakashi said, finally looking up and his eye close happily "they're not your babysitters, just the ones best suited to drive you crazy."

"Eh?" Tsunade managed, blinking, before the door to the office opened and a loud voice boomed into the silence.

"Oi, we're here masked pev, what'cha want?"

Turning Tsunade found Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino and what was obviously an Aburame standing in the office doorway. Naruto spotted her a second later and eyes widening pointed "Hey its, its..." he stopped however, and scowled, crossing his arm going into deep thought.

"I am amazed he has yet to find a nickname for you," the Aburame said stoically as ever.

"Oi, I know," Naruto suddenly boomed pointing at Tsunade "it's the Kooppaioni!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What did you say?" Ino asked slowly, a tad too sweetly, turning to glare at the boy.

"I said, it's the Kooppaioni." Naruto answered, scowling in thought.

"Never say that!" Ino shrieked, grabbing the front of his jacket and shaking him like a rag doll.

"Ok, ok!" Naruto squeaked, and when she released him, huffed "she's Kooppaibaba!"

"NARUTO!" Ino screeched.

Tsunade blinked, half-amused and half-offended. It was something that her brother might have shouted; then again, it was also something Jiraiya might have said while leering. It was then that Tsunade realized just how painful having him on this mission would be, he reminded her too strongly of so many people that she had lost or known.

"I'm happy to see that you've kept your sense of humor Naruto," Kakashi interjected over the squabble "I'm sure you'll need it when Anko gets done with smoothing out the chaos you created for her this morning."

"Hey, it was her fault!" Naruto said defensively, though his eyes belayed the worry he felt.

"What exactly did you do?" Tsunade found herself asking, fascinated with the boy and what he could have done to piss off Anko even more.

"Well, she burned my jumpsuits," Naruto explained with a frown before grinning slightly "so I used the 'Sexy no jutsu: variation' to appear like her, it lets me mimic a person right down to their chakra and it doesn't fade until I let it."

"...and you pretended to be her," Tsunade summarize, impressed with the jutsu he had just described. It was like the Henge only twenty times more potent.

"Yep! A naked Anko, who ran through the streets hugging random people, claiming to love them!" Naruto said laughing "the best was when...haha...Kurenai got hugged and I...hahahahahaha...made 'Anko' kiss her on the mouth!"

"You did...what?" Kakashi asked startled and sounding far more interested than would be expected for a Hokage response.

"Yeah, so Anko's spent the whole morning trying to convince everyone it wasn't her!" Naruto gloated, hands behind his head.

"So that is why Kurenai-san was glaring at you." Shino said before shaking his head.

"...Naruto, if you were a few years older," Tsunade said, staring at him in amazement "I would kiss you."

"Eh, for what?" Naruto asked, clueless about the glare Ino was sending Tsunade.

"Because, I've always wanted to see Anko in a panic and any guy that can do it deserves a kiss." Tsunade answered ignoring the glare, which she found more amusing than intimidating. Seeing his surprise and tiny smile, Tsunade turned back to the Hokage and cleared her throat. "So are you going to brief them or keep picturing those two kissing?"

"Er, right," Kakashi managed, keeping his voice level as he addressed the team "I'm assigning you a B-Rank mission, not out of difficulty, but because it is of utmost importance. You see, this is a mission to help bolster our village health care. Tsunade-sama requires an escort and I selected you're team, since you're comprised of two talented Chūnin and one highly talented Genin as the best for this mission."

"Wait, so all we get to do is just walk around with..." Naruto paused and seeing the look on Ino's face changed whatever he was going to say "that lady?"

There was a moment of silence, as all of them, including Tsunade, were taken back by his choice of words. From what Tsunade had gathered, it was a lot nicer than what he would normally use. Maybe her great-niece had some promise after all.

"Essentially yes," Kakashi said nodding slightly "Tsunade-sama will be carrying a large amount of money to help settle old business she has, so you'll be guarding it mostly. As a Sannin, Tsunade-sama personally doesn't need a team to watch out for her, though after the debt is paid you'll still act as honor guard."

"Well that's ok then," Naruto said with a grin "we can leak word about the money and fight the bandits. That'll keep us entertained while we work."

"You know," Tsunade muttered to Kakashi "he reminds me an awful lot of Anko."

"I know."

* * *

"Daifu-sama,"

"Yes?" Daifu said softly, his pen paused and just barely looking up from his paperwork at the man in the door way.

"Abaku-san is here," the man said motioning with his head slightly "he has information that he says you should hear. From Konoha."

"Ah, send him in!" Daifu offered, sitting back in his seat as the door closed. A moment later, it reopened and Abaku entered, dressed neatly as always, the man bowed respectfully as the door closed once more. "Abaku-san, it is so nice to see you again."

"Daifu-sama, it is an honor to see you once more."

"So, you have information from Konoha? What kind of news could be so important as to drag a man away from his family on such an important day?"

"Our source within the Hidden Village whispered to me three things," Abaku said, glancing at the only other man present, Aichi who had been quietly examining his own set of papers "one is that the Hyūga have taken something of great value to the Uchiha and hidden it, another that the Yondaime Hokage has a son and last..."

"Last?" Daifu said, eyes almost glowing in interest. The information so far had been very interesting and potentially very valuable.

"Last and most importantly, that the Legendary Sucker Tsunade, is travelling through the area."

"Tsunade, eh? Is she looking to increase her debt?" Daifu asked with a soft chuckle.

"No," Abaku said "she is travelling to gather supplies to increase Konoha's Health Care, first here to Edyoto and then to Crater City. She is also carrying a great deal of money to pay off her debts in Otafuku Gai."

"So then, she has money but does not think to pay us?" Daifu said sadly, sitting back in his leather chair "We, who fronted her a great deal of money. We, who bought out many of her former debts from the other Yakuza families? Wasn't it us that kept her dear friend Shizune from having to work in a brothel to pay off such a debt that even a minor Shinobi Village would go bankrupt?"

"Yes Daifu-sama," Abaku agreed equally saddened "she has apparently forgotten us, her best and dearest of friends."

"Obviously," Daifu murmured, standing slowly and moving to stare out the blinds of his window, watching the bustling village below him. It was time to collect, at least partially, upon the debt she owed them. Tsunade needed to learn, Sannin or not, nobody cheated the Yakuza. Turning he swept the dark room, with its patterned shadows, and then settled his iron gaze upon Aichi, who was his most trusted lieutenant.

"Aichi-san, I wish for you to contact Isaribi-san. I would ask of him to please retrieve the money for us."

"Of course Diafu-sama," Aichi said climbing to his feet and bowing politely, leaving in the company of Abaku.

"Oh, my dear Tsunade-chan," Diafu intoned softly turning back to the window alone once more "I weep for the steep price you will pay."

* * *

Within Konoha, there are places, dark and forgotten places, deep under the ground of the village and even the ANBU Integration Cells. These places were created for various functions; escapes, food storage against siege, forbidden weapons and at least one had been where a traitorous Sannin had performed his more ghastly research.

Within these places of darkness was an averaged sized, utterly unremarkable room, bathed almost completely in darkness.

Three men currently resided within this room, unfazed by the darkness that filled it. Two of these men stood professionally before the third who was seated against the wall, between two bookcases and behind a desk covered haphazardly with folders and papers. The only noise in this utterly unremarkable room was the sound of subtle breathing and the scratching of a pen on parchment.

"Sir, we have confirmation that the messages were delivered to Daifu." The man on the left said, his voice that of one from the grave, filtered though it was through the mask he wore.

"Good," the man behind the desk said, his attention shifting to the two that stood before him "then Hiryu can proceed with his mission."

"Hai," the man on the right said, standing even more rigid "what is the final decision?"

"Make contact," the man behind the desk said, turning his attention completely to Hiryu "after the Elegant Monster of the Mist withdraws, offer him the deal we made to Z-san. Tell him that if he would help us in our great cause for unity, that we will in return, repay his kindness in whatever manner he wishes."

"Hai, and if he accepts?"

"Then you are of course, to ask humbly that he removes Daifu from control of that family. If he inquires as to why we wish for this, you are to explain that we have other agents working toward an understanding with the esteemed Tsunade. The removal of Daifu, along with the solemn agreement with A-san to forget her debts when he assumes control, will greatly help us."

"Hai!" Hiryu said, then bowing turned and disappeared into the darkness disappearing completely.

"Sir, shall I contact Z-san now?" the other man said, bringing the man behind the desk's attention back to him.

"Before that, D-sama has orders that he can only give you, his most loyal of subordinates."

"Whatever D-sama asks of me, I shall perform," the man responded kneeling respectfully before the desk.

"Very well," the man behind the desk said "D-sama would like for you to contact the remaining Brother, who is to deliver this message to O-san who resides in the Field. 'We are endeavoring to help you as you have requested at the meeting within the boundaries of death. We have located two, one under heavy watch by both us and your agent. Another is hidden away by the Clan of the Sun, we are endeavoring to locate. Upon discovery we will await your decision and hope that the agreement between our two parties can be achieved prosperously as we both wish.'."

"Hai,"

"Second, D-sama requires that you ensure to send a message to H-dono saying 'All things are proceeding as agreed, the CV of both H and K have accepted that any action beyond the Wall should not involve the country. The Rain and those whom you decide may be dealt with as it has been decreed.'"

"Hai,"

"Finally, D-sama request's that you apply the first L-seal to T-san, to ensure that N-kun is on the correct path."

"Hai!" the kneeling man said sharply standing once more "what of Z-san, is there any particular method or way of approach preferred for this objective?"

"Yes," the man behind the desk said "First tell Z-san that this shall be the last task we require as payment for the agreement struck. When D-sama brings us unity, Z-san shall have the support needed to achieve his goal. Second, inform him that we request that he should send H-kun to deliver this message to Tsunade exactly as it is said 'Within Konoha, we lack unity. We seek your aide in helping us to achieve this goal, as a sign of faith we have removed those who would dishonor you by demanding money and wounding your comrades. If you decide to help us in our cause then we shall help you as it is needed, if you decline then we lose a vaunted ally.'"

"Hai, and if she does decline?"

"Then Z-san and H-kun are to silence them," the man behind the desk said firmly "they're deaths can be linked to Daifu easily and we will soon have his body at our disposal. We cannot risk they're survival, as it could potentially create connection's that we do not wish."

"Hai! I understand it will all be done as both D-sama and Unity requires." the man said before he too, disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

It had been a while since Tsunade had moved toward a target with such determination, for the last dozen or so years the Sannin had meandered across the continent, Shizune in tow. No set destination in mind, going only where her whims or fate carried her, doing her best to forget about her past and that at one time her hands had been covered with blood.

Yes, it had been many years since she had traveled with determination, toward a specific goal. It had also been many years since she had been without Shizune, who had been a constant companion for Tsunade. A sort of relief from the solitude when it became too much; a trusted friend and comrade, who was a hell of a lot quieter than her current companions.

Shino wasn't so bad, Tsunade knew his father since he had at one time tried to ask her out. The boy was quiet, kept to himself and focused entirely on his bugs. Most surprising was the fact that despite his team mates, he seemed perfectly balanced. No, Tsunade had no problem with Shino; rather it was with Ino and Naruto who were less than quiet.

The two blond's alternated between bickering and chatting about everything under the sun. Which might have been amusing, except for the fact that they never shut up and talked in tones that set her teeth on edge.

"Aa, Naruto-kun, about your Sexy no Jutsu: variation," Ino suddenly said, her voice inquisitive "can you really become anybody with it?"

"Huh, well yeah," Naruto said with a nod, hands behind his head "well, I gotta at least see them first. Hang out for a bit if I really want to copy them perfectly."

"Ah," Ino said, silent for a moment "so have you used it to ever become me?"

"Well, not yet," Naruto offered, his tone teasing "but when I get around to it I'll see about your lack of tits."

Ino naturally screeched at this, her kodachi slashing through the space he had been occupying. Naruto of course dodged and a minute later led Ino on a merry little chase, before ultimately being beaten to the edge of unconsciousness.

Tsunade, who had watched the whole thing shook her head "Kami, don't they ever stop?"

"You get used to it," Shino offered from beside her.

That was not however, the last argument since Naruto had recovered amazingly fast and launched into a spiel about how abusive Ino was. After another three hours of the two arguing, Tsunade called an early lunch and threatened to severe they're vocal cords if they spoke. Naruto had protested naturally, and Tsunade causally reached over numbing them.

As Naruto freaked out in amusing pantomime, the others laughed and started preparing their meals. It wasn't until near the end of lunch that Naruto's voice started to return, signaling the start of another six hours of torture. Sighing, the legendary medic closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree, musing about her life and how smart she had been to ensure there was a team to keep the money safe.

Tsunade could already feel the urge to take the money and visit a gambling hall, but with it safely in the hands of Team Ten...well, she could still take it but it would be marginally harder. Ino, her niece which was a concept she was still trying to grasp, was not a push over. Nor was Shino from what she gathered and with Naruto, who had held of Orochimaru for a few minutes and defeated a Jinchūriki without help, it was more trouble than it was really worth.

"Obasan?" Ino asked, and Tsunade jerked slightly at the address.

"Yeah?" Tsunade replied, forcing herself to banish the strangeness of being called that. It was weird to be around family, even a branch of the family she had never really known about. It was even weirder to have a member of that branch address you so humbly or with such familiarity.

"Well I was wondering where exactly we're going." Ino said, looking interested.

"Ah, yea Kakashi-kun forgot to tell you that," Tsunade said smirking at the mild shock on the girls face at the casual way she had referred to the Hokage "we're heading to Edyoto, that's in the Second Region-"

"Second Region?" Naruto interjected, suddenly looking up from his ramen.

"...did you sleep you're way through the academy?" Tsunade asked archly, then seeing his nod and grin, sighed "Hi no Kuni is divided into Fourteen Regions by size, each controlled by a Governor. There's the Central Region, controlled by the Daimyo and the Hokage. Then there's First Region and then the Second Region, which is where Edyoto is, and so on."

"I see!" Naruto said brightly.

Tsunade kept the wince or the flash of pain hidden, but right then she had seen a flash of her brother. Nawaki had reacted the exact same way when she had explained the Regions to him so many years ago. "So we're going to Edyoto to see Governor Uo. He owes me a few favors from the Second Shinobi War and I intend to collect, since he has some of the best medical connections in other villages along with a great wealth of medicinal herbs."

"Wait, so why don't we already have access to them?" Ino asked, looking confused.

"Because until now, Konoha never had someone in control of the Health Care system that would bother with increasing the options," Tsunade explained with a snort "Konoha, like all Ninja Villages, places a lot more effort into combat and reactive medicine. I'm going to start putting effort into Proactive medicine, that way we'll be prepared for nearly anything."

"So after we go to Edyoto where do we go?" Naruto asked, stretching as he stood.

"Back to Central Region, first to Otafuku Gai so I can deal with my personal business. Then we'll head on to Crater City; they have a surplus of civilian doctors and materials that we can use even if they are normally sneered at by Shinobi," Tsunade explained with a frown "but sometimes they're more useful than Shinobi methods. Even medical jutsu can do so much, so the more options the better."

"Ossu, Edyoto here we come!" Naruto shouted and Tsunade felt a migraine beginning to form.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was feeling good; Her arm finally free of the cast -thanks to both Sakura and her great-aunt-, she was on a decent mission and she was getting to know her great aunt even better. Most importantly, she was entering the famous city of Edyoto, home of some of the most famous flowers in the country. Like the Ouke no Namida, a flower that tradition said originally sprang from the blood of a heroic Damiyo's tears; primarily it was used for funerals of very important people.

"Edyoto," Tsunade said blandly as they rounded the bend and came to a stop on a slight rise overlooking the city. Edyoto was a sprawling city, arranged around an impressive castle directly in the center. "The area immediately around the castle is made up of mansions for high-ranking samurai and court nobles. Just beyond those are several temples and beyond that a massive market area."

"It's bigger than Konoha," Ino admitted, eyes wide "A lot bigger."

"Of course, it used to be the seat of power for Hi no Kuni," Tsunade said setting off, leading the three toward the massive city "the urban sprawl has gotten better over the years, more pleasant homes and rustic shops. That river is a nice place, it's got a few nice restaurants and even a nice place to walk along side and think."

"Tsunade-obasan," Ino said glancing around, impressed by the sheer number of people around them, but spotting the massive gate towering over the area to the left "what's that gate for?"

"Oh, that," the Sannin said dismissively with a vague wave of her hand "it just marks the center of the city's commercial center. Many fishermen, craftsmen, and retailers operate there; along with large shipping companies. Edyoto might not be the seat of Hi no Kuni's political power, but it's still the center of the economy."

"Tsunade-sama," Shino asked softly, making the Sannin jerk slightly having apparently forgotten he was there "I have noticed ninja marking our progress. They do not seem overly hostile, but they do not seem to hail from Konoha."

"Eh?" the Sannin said, then glanced and snorted "Oh, them. I think there called Hi no Kuni ninja, basically state controlled ninja."

"But I thought Konoha was the source of ninja for Hi no Kuni," Ino said thoughtfully glancing at her aunt.

"They were, if I don't all the details, but a governor has been trying to form them into his own private army."

"But where would he get such people?" Shino asked, his interest apparently piqued and surprisingly it was Naruto that answered the question.

"The smaller ninja academys through out Hi no Kuni, failed Konoha Academy students and former samurai," the blond paused, scowling off to the side.

"They do lack even the basic stealth skills of academy students," Shino allowed, with what seemed to be disdain in his tone. Ino however, was more interested in how Naruto had figured out the source without stopping to give it serious thought.

"Not as dumb as you look eh? Or you listen to Anko when she talks." Tsunade said off handily to Naruto, before bringing them to a halt before a massive statue outside the streets were the mansions resided "ok, you three go do whatever; I need to see Uo alone and we'll meet up later."

"That is not standard procedure," Shino said, an eyebrow rising up.

"Maybe not," Tsunade returned, glancing at him "but one, I'm a Sannin; two, Uo is an old friend who also happens to distrust most ninja and three your mission is to guard the money not me."

"Still, it would be better if you took one of us with you," Shino said firmly, his tone letting Ino know that he was not about to drop this.

Ino however, saw the slight tic in her aunt's eye that hinted at annoyance. She'd seen the older woman react the same way after a few of Naruto's nicknames. Hence, Ino knew exactly how violent things could become, so she did the most obvious thing.

Shoving the briefcase into Naruto's hands, she covered Shino's mouth with her hand. "Of course Obasan! Please forgive him he was just trying to do the right thing." Tsunade offered a fleeting smirk, then turning left them standing there. Releasing Shino, Ino took a step back as a soft buzzing noise filled the air and Shino turned toward her "Sorry, but remember what she did to Naruto?"

"Oi, she just caught me by surprise!" Naruto protested loudly.

Ino rolled her eyes, and when she saw Shino nod she breathed a bit easier. The boy was a tad touchy lately, a marked contrast to how he had been when they were first put on the team. Then again, Shino could have been affected by Naruto's personality. Then seeing the way Naruto and Shino got along, she mused, it could have been they had all influenced each other.

Shaking it off she smiled brightly "So, should we go get some lunch?"

"Lunch?" Naruto asked happily, bright eyes darting around the city, obviously looking for a ramen stand.

"It sounds like a good idea," Shino said with a slight nod "however; I would prefer it not be ramen."

"Don't worry, it won't be," Ino assured him, ignoring Naruto's vocal protests, as she turned to led the way through the streets "so what kind of restaurants you think they have around here?"

"Undoubtable good ones," Shino said, ignoring Naurto's grumbles as well.

"Hmm, oooh, there's a Wasabi restaurant!" Ino said, eyes darting along the shops.

"Yakitori would be more preferable," Shino responded "wasabi can have undesirable effects on my Kikai."

"Ah, well-" Ino said before being interrupted by the loud blond from behind them.

"Oi, don't I get a say in where we eat?!"

Turning, Ino eyed the irate blond then glanced at Shino, then glanced at Naruto. A moment passed and then she turned back to Shino, continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Yakitori sounds ok, but it's always been a tad strong for my taste."

Things continued in this vein for a long while, much to Naruto's continued annoyance, though by the time they finally reached the restaurants along the river he was grinding his teeth. Ino of course knew he had been keeping his temper, why she wasn't sure, but he would snap soon.

Shino came to the rescue by suggesting that they should eat in a modest restaurant that seemed to specialize in Teriyaki and Nabe. Naruto grumbling agreed and the three were seated at a table; the waitress bowing and smiling brightly before leaving them alone. It still amazed Ino however, that somehow despite their efforts, Naruto still managed to order ramen.

Ino was beginning to recognize that it was impossible to keep Naruto and Ramen apart. Propping her chin in her hand, the Kenjutsu user huffed in annoyance, much to Naruto's obvious amusement.

"If I may ask," Shino said after a moment, managing to sit stiffly at the table "have either of you thought about why we were assigned the mission?"

"Er...cause we're the best?" Naruto responded, blinking as he stared at the boy.

"Excuse me, I misspoke," Shino said inclining his head "I meant why was this mission assigned?

"So someone could guard the money while that-" Naruto paused, glancing cautiously at Ino "woman does her talkin crap."

"That is true, on the surface," Shino offered "however, consider our team. Each of us is among the most talented of our generation; this mission is a waste of our talent. Any Genin team could handle such a mission as to guard money from bandits."

"Yeah!" Naruto said in agreement, sudden understanding flooding his face.

"Plus, Tsunade-obasan is a Sannin, so who could actually rob her?" Ino asked, frowning as she to realize the oddness of this mission.

"Maybe," Shino offered as the food was delivered and the waitress left once more "we are not here to merely guard the money from bandits."

"Well, then who are we guarding the money from?" Naruto asked with a touch of annoyance. "It's not like she'd try and steal it."

"..."

"..."

"I was kidding," Naruto said quickly, staring back and forth between them "I mean, ok she's a lot of things but why would she steal her own money?!"

"Well, I know that my some of my family have serious gambling problems," Ino offered seriously "she could be a chronic gambler."

"But its her money." Naruto countered.

"That is destined to take care of," Shino said calmly "Tsunade-sama's 'old business'. It could be that the money is to be put toward gambling debts, however, as a chronic gambler she could be tempted into using it to gamble with."

"Holy hell," Naruto said throwing his hands up, the briefcase dangling in one hand "all those Sannin's are fucked up! There's Ero-sennin whose just a big perv, then there's that snake bastard who tortures people for fun and then there's Baba who gambles all her money away!"

"...Baba?" Ino asked mildly startled, wondering at Naruto's new choice of nickname.

"Well she _is_ over fifty," Naruto offered with a snort crossing his arms.

"I can live with that," Ino responded grudgingly before she turned her full attention to her food.

* * *

As Tsunade passed through the stone gate set into the massive walls of interlocking battlements, she felt a flash of melancholy settle over her. The last time she had been to this Shiro, the Sandaime had been alive, she had just turned Chūnin and Governor Uo had just achieved power.

Shaking the memories off, Tsunade noted the samurai, wearing red and black uniform kimonos bearing the circular flame insignias of Hi no Kuni. They moved with smart, military professionalism, they're alertness doubling at her presence. Still, nobody moved to question or bar her yet, that would come later and only because her arrival had been announced by those Hi no Kuni ninja.

Uo always had been a bit more lax with his own personal safety than the safety of his people.

Following the road she was on as it curved to the left, she smiled briefly as she travelled a vast avenue lined with heavily fortified houses behind easily defendable greater walls and lesser walls, then doubled on itself into a labyrinth of steps and roads. So maybe Uo wasn't as lax as he had been in the past, these would be a serious deterrent to most threats.

The Sannin paused just beyond them to stare out at the carefully tended, multicolored garden on the left before remembering Jiraiya telling her the story of when this castle had belonged to the first Hi no Kuni Daimyo. How he had been a very paranoid man and built the castle to be a deliberate maze, but that he had built it too well and gotten lost in it, only to die in the garden and now roamed the grounds as a ghost.

Shivering from that memory she turned away and continued to the final gate, which stood open though heavily guarded, allowing her to enter the inner courtyard, which was guard by a several more samurai. Pausing she grinned, seeing the far door open and set off at a brisk pace where she was bowed through the door to enter the fort.

The corridor inside was richly carpeted with rush mats, clean and kind to the feet. Without stopping Tsunade climbed the winding, defendable stairs while passing through several additional corridors and stairs. Finally, she came to the last corridor and after a sharp corner, the Sannin found a group of massed samurai with a young officer in front.

Behind them was another door, outlined with iron for reinforcement and Tsunade stopped short as she heard the whisper of a blade sliding partially out of a scabbard.

"Ok, which of you bastards wants his arm broke?" Tsunade asked casually, eying the massed group. When nobody moved she sighed and glared at the samurai in charge "You better move or I'm going to start spanking you like the babies you are."

"We have orders-"

"Kanto-san, I would let Tsunade-sama through if I were you," an amused voice said, cutting the samurai off. A moment later, a gray haired and grizzled samurai appeared from an unseen alcove "I have seen her when the mood is on her and she is not one to play nicely with teething children."

"Akechi-sama," Kanto said bowing, while looking rather upset "our orders-"

"I know your orders, I gave them to you," Akechi said blandly, turning to smile at Tsunade "Governor Uo has been expecting you. Please go in."

"Thanks Ake-chan," Tsunade beamed, knowing that she was probably one of the few people that could get away with such informality. The young officer seemed to realize the situation and curtly motioned his men aside, allowing him to open the thick door himself. Giving the young man a narrow look, she walked past them; shoulders squared and chin high every bit the legendary ninja that she was.

The audience room was immense, forty paces square and ten feet high, the tatami mats of the best quality. There were two doors in the far wall. Near the dais, in a niche, was a small vase with a single spray of cherry blossom that gave the room a sweet fragrance. Tsunade made no indication that she had noticed the door closing behind her or the twenty samurai kneeling in front of the dais.

Instead she focused on the impressive looking Governor, feeling slightly relieved to see his genial smile and the long hair he had always been so fond of.

"Tsunade-dono, It is so good to see you." The man said, quickly leaving the security of his samurai moving as if to embrace her then thought better of it, motioning for her to join him outside out on his private balcony.

Tsunade graced him with a beautiful smile, walking beside the shorter man. "Uo-dono, you're looking quite well."

"Ahh, how kind of you to say even if I doubt it's the truth." The man grinned at her "So the trip was well?"

"Of course," Tsunade chuckled "it's not like we have roaming enemy ninja in the country side anymore."

"True," Uo said stepping up to lean against the balcony railing "So, what brings oh so important medic such as yourself to see a lowly Governor like me?"

"Maybe I wanted to act on a crush," Tsunade said, prompting his laughter and she easily joined in before walking over to stand next to him "seriously though, I've returned to Konoha and I have the chance to improve the village Health Care system."

"Ah, so that's it." Uo said, glancing at her "What exactly do you need from me?"

"Certain Medical herbs that we don't grow in Konoha," Tsunade explained. "Adravil, Ambrosia, Bacta, Isoprovalyn and Metazine mostly. Also, any medical texts or experts would be appreciated."

"Those are some very rare, very expensive, herbs," Uo said thoughtfully with a slight scowl "I'm not even sure the growers would agree to let Konoha have access to them. With the Yamanaka and Nara families, you could easily start growing your own and out produce them."

"We can agree not to grow them," Tsunade said with a snort of annoyance "but I want those herbs. I'd prefer to not have to ask my team to get them."

"Team? You came with a team?" Uo asked, startled.

"They're guarding the money I need for my personal business," Tsunade explained, then seeing his smirk she continued in annoyance "but they're still very talented. I'm sure even with those Hi no Kuni ninja you have running around-"

"Wait, there are Hi no Kuni ninja in my city?" Uo asked, his tone growing dangerous. "I told Fuwa-san I didn't want them in my city."

"...Fuwa?"

"He recently took over Region Seven. He's been pushing for Hi no Kuni ninja to be actively used by the other Governors. The most notable convert is Governor Genji of Region One." Uo explained sourly "His argument is that since Konoha is in turmoil that it would be best to use ninja whose loyalty is no longer doubted. "

"Ah," Tsunade said sourly, what little attachment she had to Konoha feeling hurt at the distrust.

"I think he's just trying to use this to put Hi no Kuni ninja into position for leverage," Uo explained shaking his head "Fuwa is an ambitious man and I'm sure he'd love to take over as Daimyo of Hi no Kuni."

"...have you told the Daimyo of your thoughts?"

"No," Uo said shaking his head "Governor Ito died under mysterious circumstances after all, making room for Fuwa to take over."

"I see," Tsunade said in understanding, "I'll tell the Hokage then. He can reach the Daimyo without worrying about his life."

"Thank you," the governor said smiling "as for your medicinal herbs and contacts, I think I know how to arrange things..."

"Good," Tsunade said, nodding slightly "I would hate letting you ogle my chest go to waste."

"My dear Tsunade-chan, ogling your chest can never be a waste."

* * *

Watching Ino and Naruto talking, well bicker more than anything, Shino trailed behind them thinking about the uneasiness he felt. Why would the the Hi no Kuni ninja that had been watching suddenly stop? It set Shino on edge, though Ino and Naruto seemed unconcerned. Shino however, did not like what such a change could hold for them.

Watching Naruto, reading his body language, Shino frowned behind the high collar of his jacket. Then there was the question of why Naruto was acting so cautious, it wasn't like him. Yes, Naruto was aware of surroundings and aware of danger, they all were. Still there was something about the way he was acting, that told Shino that Naruto knew more than he had bothered to tell them.

Setting those questions aside for the moment, Shino briefly reached out to make contact with his Kikai that was currently on Tsunade. Things with the Sannin seemed fine, she was within the castle, and there was no hint of danger there. Then he felt a small surge of chakra and Shino turned his mind back to his immediate surroundings, thinking a genjutsu had been cast.

However, after carefully reaching out with his kikai, it proved false. Though he couldn't explain the surge of charka, it didn't seem to belong to an attack. Cautiously turning his mind back to the two earlier considerations, Shino studied the river they were walking along.

It almost seemed to glow under the setting sun, and Kekio added that it was beautiful. He agreed silently with her, and turned back to why Naruto seemed so cautious and the Hi no Kuni ninja.

"Oi, Shino, how much ryou do you have?" Naruto asked from up ahead, glancing over his shoulder.

"Twenty," Shino answered, silently spreading his Kikai out further to encompass the area. That question was a signal either Ino or Naruto could use to alert Shino that they felt something. Shino's answer confirmed that he had felt it too and that he would spread his family out further to check on the danger.

"So, like, have you ever been to this city before?" Ino asked focusing on Naruto, alerting them both with the word 'like' that she had noticed something. The girl had stopped using it lately, but it still made a handy tell for them when they were being watched.

"Hehe, nope," Naruto answered, putting his free hand behind his head three fingers held out, signaling that he felt at least three people.

Shino remained silent, concentrating on the report his Kikai had discovered then spoke "I have been curious, do you think our Jōnin-sensei will be upset that the three us assumed this mission without her permission."

"Of course she won't, the Hokage assigned it, what can she say?" Ino said dismissively, but confirming that they were all now aware of at least three Jōnin around them.

"Oi, you guys ever been to another Hidden village?" Naruto asked causally, asking subtly that he wanted to know if either of them knew where these ninja were from. "I went to Kusa once; it was really strange ya know."

"Aha, really? I didn't know that," Ino said wide eyed.

"I to, was unaware of that." Shino said, both having now confirmed that they did not know where the ninja were from. A second later they were spared further subterfuge, when three identical men appeared on each side of them. They were all dressed in elegant and simplistic white tops and pants, with black detailing.

They each were also carrying black bladed Naginata's.

"Ino-chan take the ugly one," Naruto offered glancing at the other two.

"No, you take the ugly one." Ino shot back with a snort, drawing her kodachi with a flourish.

"Fine, I'll take the ugly one," Naruto relented drawing a kunai and tightening his grip on the briefcase "so, which one is the ugly one?"

"If you are done with your routine," Shino said, throwing a pair of kunai embedding themselves in the ground in front of the closet ninja. A second later, the explosive tags flared and exploded, providing cover for the three Konoha ninja to scatter and engage their own enemies. Shino was immediately forced to dodge as the ninja he had attack lunged forward his Naginata spearing through the air where he had been.

Twisting in the air, Shino landed adroitly and producing another pair of kunai back peddled, defending against the flashing blade that was seeking his blood. Shino of course knew that fighting a Naginata with kunai for any length of time was suicide, but all he wanted for the moment was for the man to focus on him while a small swarm of his Kikai moved to land on the ninja and drain his chakra.

Sadly the man seemed utterly unconcerned with such a tactic as he wasn't slowing down and seemed to be moving even faster. Dodging a particularly vicious slice Shino started forward then skidded to a halt, the Naginata already arching up and dropping down in a chopping motion. Shino brought his weapons up, the kunai crossing over head to halt the descent.

That proved sadly ineffective and Shino had to throw himself to the side, while taking a deep slice in his jacket. Rolling to his feet and spinning around, a swarm of bugs flooded from his jacket to descend on the man. The mysterious ninja in response twirled his weapon, the rippling as bubbles of water encased the swarm heading for him.

"Funny thing about bugs, they don't do much when they're trapped in water." The man said smiling politely at him.

Shino prepared for another attack, when suddenly he took a water attack from behind. Pitching forward his head crashed painfully into the ground and a second later, he was out cold.

* * *

Ino charged forward, her kodachi coming around in a precise arc aimed for the mysterious man's ribs. With a dull thud however, the blade met tempered wood as the man blocked her swing. With a sharp exhale of breath, Ino pivoted, her momentum swinging her back around with a noticeable whistling sound.

Her blade gleamed as it whipped up at the man's face, only to have it also blocked by the staff portion of the Naginata. The man shoved her weapon away and Ino went with the momentum, spinning around before coming to a stop in a ready stance; her kodachi held parallel to the ground in front of her with both hands.

"For one so young you have a very good grasp of the basics," the man said politely, before spinning his weapon around over head while slipping into an even deeper fighting stance, the blade snapping into position pointing at her "however, it will take more than the basics to defeat me."

Ino hesitated for a moment, realizing he was being serious, and then darted forward. The blades clashed with a scraping noise as Kodachi clashed against the Naginata blade. They paused briefly, then Ino backpedaled slightly unnerved by the look in his eye, her kodachi struggling to block his slashes.

Skidding to a stop, Ino resettled her nerves and darted back in aiming for his stomach, only to have him spin his Naginata counter-clockwise and pin her sword to the ground. A second later Ino released the weapon and fell back as the blade sliced through the space where her head had just resided. Rolling to her feet, Ino dodged backward to avoid a spearing motion from that weapon.

Coming to a stop, she found herself breathing heavy, eyes wide, gulping. Kami, he was fast, faster than anything she had ever faced and worse he was actively trying to kill her.

"No, no, this won't do," the man said and with a flick of his Naginata tossed her the lost Kodachi, which Ino caught out of reflex "there, that's much better. Now let's try this again shall we dear?"

Gulping Ino shifted her weight, deciding to use her most powerful techniques. Channeling as much chakra as she dared into her Kodachi, Ino dropped to a knee, driving the tip of the blade into the ground. "Dance of the Crashing Dragon!"

The earth rumbled and then, with a loud crack, exploded upwards in a hail of rock. Ino however, was already channeling even more chakra into her kodachi and slipping it from the ground slashed out at him. "Dance of the Midnight Tornado!"

A moment later a decent size tornado joined the earlier attack, obscuring her enemy even more. Ino wasn't taking any chances and moved to use her newest technique, Dance of the Setting Moon which was B-rank. Channeling chakra into her legs and to reinforce the blade, Ino jumped as high as she could while her sword quickly rose over her head.

A moment later she came back down, the blade slashing down with unbelievable force for her size, attempting to slice the man in half. Only instead of slicing the man or his weapon in half, her blade crashed against the staff of the Naginata as it was held over head. Ino's feet hit the ground and then a second later the man shoved her way with his weapon.

Skidding to a stop Ino looked up to find the man holding his Naginata at an angle with the blade pointed causally behind him at the ground.

"I am impressed, to use the Tsuki Odori so well at such a young age speaks very well of your abilities."

"T-thanks," Ino managed, breathing heavily, staring at his weapon before looking at him "is that Naginata unbreakable?"

"Oh my no," the man said looking apologetic "much like your Tuski Odori technique, my weapon gains much of its impressive abilities from my charka flowing through it."

Gulping Ino adjusted her grip on the kodachi, sweat trickling down the sides of her face and then darted forward only to have the man block as before. Ino noticed too late that he was holding it at the far end, and with a quick twisting motion, he brought the blade from the closer edge of the blade to the farther edge.

Then with a deft jerk of his Naginata, the man wrenched the kodachi from her hand. Ino gulped nervously and stared up at the man, doubting that he would offer her another chance at defeating him. So this was how she would die, not that there was anything wrong with it.

At least she had given her best and obviously, this man was insanely more powerful and skilled that she was.

"I applaud your skill, very few apprentices are skilled enough to hold up so well," the man said politely, offering her a pleasant smile, bringing his Naginata up to rest across his shoulders "it also speaks highly of your sensei, Gekko-san, and Konoha in general."

"Uhh, thanks," Ino offered uncertainly, staring at him in confusion.

"However, as a ninja I am sure you appreciate that I must complete my mission and as such I cannot have you interfering with my fight with the boy in orange."

"Na-" Ino started to shout, turning to give him a warning, only to be blindsided with the blunt end of his staff.

"I take my leave of you my dear, though I look forward to seeing how you blossom," the man said, walking past her as she collapsed and blacked out.

* * *

Fighting two enemies was not something Naruto had expected, especially ones strong enough to force him to drop the briefcase and place a foot on it while molding chakra to hold it in place so that he could use both hands. Not that it was doing much good, he couldn't even get the time to form a Kage Bunshin hell he was too busy trying to defend against two Naginata's with nothing more than Kunai.

Growing frustrated, Naruto deflected an incoming Naginata blade, while he hurled another kunai wrapped in an exploding note at the man on the left. What he needed then was a quick win, but the only quick win he could manage would need two hands. The Kamikaze no Jutsu was out for the sheer fact that he wasn't sure how strong it actually was and with Shino obviously out of the fight he didn't want to risk killing his own team mate.

Deflecting another lunge of a Naginata aside, he aimed it this time toward the other man. The two clashed for a moment and Naruto took the chance to drive both back with the last of his kunai and exploding notes. That would buy him enough time to form the Tora seal, which he did, filling the small area with a gust of wind that uprooted several trees.

It also, much to his surprise, caused both men to explode into puddles of water.

"That...ok, I was fighting water men?" Naruto asked in surprise, staring at the two puddles of water. Talk about unexpected, but damn those guys had been freaking strong. A second later, Naruto sensed an attack from behind and realizing he had forgotten about the third man, spun.

His eyes widened as he found a Naginata plunging directly for his chest. A wordless roar of surprise escaped Naruto as he brought his hands around and in grasped the shaft of the Naginata, holding it at bay even as the tip dug ever so slightly into his flesh.

"You caught it," the man said eyes widening in surprise, his arms straining to push past but he only succeeded in causing Naruto to slide backward, the briefcase firmly trapped beneath his foot.

"Heh, not bad," Naruto said, meeting his gaze, struggling to kept the blade from going any further. It seemed the battle had come to a temporary halt as the two of them strained against each other, but Naruto knew this was no just a pathetic bandit or even your typical ronin. This was someone much more dangerous, much more murderous; someone that he most likely had very little chance against.

"You are...quite talented," the man growled, his gray eyes narrowing "do you have a name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he grated out, wincing as the Naginata tip slid just a fraction of an inch deeper into him "You?"

"Yasashige Isaribi, formerly of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu," Isaribi said before suddenly yanking his Naginata back, pulling Naruto off balance.

The blond pitched forward, then reeled upright as the other end of the weapon smashed into his mouth, followed by a whistling sound as the blade slashed diagonally across his chest despite his desperate attempt to avoid it. Naruto's mind went dumb from the pain then his legs were swept out from under him sending him crashing to the ground, to watch in fascination as the Naginata plunged for his chest once more. Naruto reacted almost too late, the blade sank deeper than before, but Naruto had managed to catch the shaft of the weapon and held it tight avoiding a certain death.

"You are very attached to your life." Isaribi said conversationally, increasing the pressure on his weapon, succeeding in sliding the blade just a bit further.

"Ungh," Naruto managed, eyes nearly closed from the effort it was taking to keep the weapon from plunging into him completely.

"It will be my pleasure to kill you."

"I'm not...dead...yet..." Naruto managed and then, like he had figured out against Sasuke used his body as a medium for the Kaze no Yaiba. The wind actually seemed to howl in rage, the slashing blades of wind enveloping both him and his target. For a moment, he locked eyes with Isaribi, and then the man pulled his weapon away and disappeared leaving Naruto lying alone on the ground bleeding.

He could taste blood in his mouth, but he could also feel the unbearable heat that he had learned to associate with his body healing. Rolling over and getting up slowly, Naruto paused, watching as blood oozed in slow motion from his chest to pool on the ground beneath him. Get up! Gotta get up! Naruto raged and with a surge of strength Naruto did just that, stumbling but remaining upright.

Naruto took the moment to survey the area, finding it utterly devastated from his jutsu, there were deep cuts all through the ground where he had been pinned. Damn, just how strong was that move?

"You impress me, to not only survive my assault but to drive me back speaks highly of you." Isaribi said from the left and when Naruto turned he found the man, his white clothes shredded, blood splattered, standing on the surface of the river, holding only what remained of his Naginata under arm, tip pointed down. "I have never seen such a jutsu, tell me Uzumaki Naruto, does it have a name?"

"Kamikaze no Yaiba," Naruto answered, drawing his breath in a thick, wet gulp.

"A very worthy name," Isaribi intoned, and then spun his broken weapon around before holding it before him "allow me to present my own technique, 'Suiton: Bouseki Doriru'. It has proven undefeatable save for once against a technique known as the Rasengan."

Naruto froze, eyes wide, watching as the man began his move. The tip of the Naginata spun around him gracefully, trailing through the surface of the river; bring up ever growing trails of water. The weapon began to spin around faster, the trails of water growing in size, following the gleaming blade in the spinning dance.

Instinct told Naruto that this technique, whatever it was called, was not something he needed to let the man complete. If the only move to defeat it was the Rasengan, then that was what he would use! Creating a Kage Bunshin, Naruto had it begin molding the chakra in the palm of his right hand then once the sphere was completed, had it grasp his wrist and spin, hurling him at his enemy.

Isaribi's eyes widened slightly, and then began twirling his weapon faster before suddenly slashing the blade through the air. The swirling trails of water followed the slash, merging into a massive spiraling ball as it hurtled toward him. Naruto roared in rage and brought his hand forward, clashing the Rasengan against the mass of water.

His air borne advance halted, Naruto's feet hit the water and slid backward amid a rooster trail from the impact. A moment later, he braced against the water's surface and surged forward, digging the Rasengan deep into the blast of water, shattering it. The explosion sent him skidding backward along the water's surface once more with another roosters trail, followed by a spray of water as it descended back to the river.

Coming to a stop, Naruto struggled to remain standing then collapsed to a knee. It wasn't until he saw the water darkening with his blood that he realized that his attack had worsen the wound his body was trying to heal. Still, he lifted his head; meeting the silent and odd man he had been fighting, daring him silently to continue the assault.

"…This fight is over," Isaribi intoned, staring at Naruto in dark consideration "you may keep the money. But know this Uzumaki Naruto, we will fight again someday."

* * *

Tsunade led the way through the maze of streets, before making their way parallel to a medium river where a small building sat, along a with a dog and a waiting ferry. Adjusting the weight of the still unconscious boy she had had slung over her shoulder, the Sannin was very aware of the Hi no Kuni samurai that were escorting them.

"Obasan, why are we going by ferry?" Ino asked softly from beside her, eyes glancing around intently.

"Well, considering the fact that you three were assaulted by a Mist ninja wielding a Naginata I'd say it'd be faster than walking." Tsunade retorted sourly, more than a little disappointed in her niece's inability to do more in a fight. Though she was also disappointed with Shino's and even Naruto's stupidity over taking such blows.

"Right," Ino said scowling "so why are we going to a place he'd be at home attacking?"

"Tsunade-sama, Ino is correct the ninja used water based attacks," Shino said quietly from beside her, carrying the new briefcase of money courtesy of the Governor -since Naruto had inadvertently destroyed the first one- "he therefore is at home attacking from the water."

"Because it's the last thing he'd expect, now stay here and keep an eye on him." Tsunade answered, setting Naruto down before moving forward alone to the building to speak with the owner. "Is the ferry ready to go?"

"Yes," the man said, a quick glanced over her shoulder and then back at her "the Governor stressed the importance of being ready. Are all of you going?"

"no, just four of us will be using it," Tsunade said sourly "me, two weaklings and one idiot. This ferry has a private area right? I'll need to scan the idiot for poison."

"Of course," the man said slightly indignant "the crew's already on board and waiting. The Governor's covered the expense, so whenever you're ready just go."

"Great," Tsunade said, turning to glare at the two other ninja hovering near Naruto "You two get that runt onboard. Then set yourselves up as lookouts on the front and rear of the boat, and this time try not to get blindsided."

Ino's face flushed but bent and with the help of Shino, pulled Naruto to his feet and dragged the limp body to the boat. Snorting in annoyance, Tsunade slung her furoshiki over her shoulder and followed them aboard. Nodding to the captain, she checked to find Shino already at the forefront of the ferry, then headed for the cabin only to find Ino standing in the doorway.

"Tsunade-obasan, I...well-"

"Save it," Tsunade said sourly, glowering at the guilty looking girl. "I heard you and your team were good. 'Oh Shino, he's topnotch at thinking ahead, and there's Ino one of our top kunoichi Genin, and Naruto! He's held off Orochimaru and saved the whole village single handled! He's a hero.'"

"That's all true though!" Ino protested.

"...No, the only thing true is that Naruto is a hero," Tsunade said, her gaze darkening "he's a tragedy waiting to happen!"

"Oba-"

"Will you stop calling me that!" Tsunade snapped, her temper breaking and forcing the girl to shrink back "I couldn't possibly be related to someone as pathetic as you! Kami, you got your asses kicked by a group of Mizu Bunshin and let a friend, someone important to you, get seriously injured!"

"Naruto-kun has the Tenkeichiyu though," Ino protested weakly "and he healed quickly didn't he? He'll be fine."

"Girl, rapid healing has serious side effects, even a bloodline. Besides which, that weapon most likely was coated with a strong and high concentration of poison." Tsunade snorted shaking her head in annoyance pulling the girl out of her way "now leave me alone so I can see if I can keep the 'hero' from dying just yet."

"But-" Ino started to protest, before Tsunade slammed the door behind her. Letting out a deep breath, the medic dropped her furoshiki in a corner of the dim interior. Crossing the cramped cabin, she sat down heavily on the small chair beside the cot, pausing as she noticed the forehead protector on the small table and a damp rag on Naruto's forehead.

Obviously, an inept attempt by Ino at tending to an unconscious Naruto. Snorting she removed it, before allowing her fingers brush through his bangs. He looked so much like Nawaki and the Yondaime; he also looked odd without that forehead protector. Gathering her will, Tsunade removed his blood stained jacket; at least it was dried blood so her hands didn't shake that badly.

Then when he was bare-chested, she frowned. Admittedly she didn't know the exactly details concerning this 'Tenkeichiyu' ability, but there should have been scars. According to Shino the Naginata had struck Naruto repeatedly and even healing abilities -her Souzou Saisei included- had to leave a faint sign.

Instead, there was nothing, just smooth and unblemished skin. Well enough about his flesh, it was the poison she needed to take care of. Flashing through a series of seals, her hand began to glow a greenish-blue and she placed it on his body.

Tsunade was expecting to find a system fighting a very high level of poison, but instead she found nothing. The medical jutsu she was using to check Naruto's body reported that he was perfectly healthy. That of course, was impossible since nobody was perfectly healthy, especially a boy that had, by all accounts, taken several Naginata attacks to the chest, rapidly healed both wounds and poison.

Even with an advanced bloodline that allowed for healing, like Ino claimed, there should have been mutations to his cellular structure. If her scan was accepted, this 'Tenkeichiyu' healed him and left no mutation beyond. No, Tsunade decided sitting back from the unconscious ninja on the cot, it didn't heal him.

Regenerated would be a more accurate term. But it did more than merely regenerate perfectly, it made him stronger, harder to injure in that location. No Advanced Bloodline could do that, the human body simply didn't work that way.

There was no explanation for it; the ability was just too unnatural to be an Advanced Bloodline. It was then a horrible thought flooded through her, made her eyes widen in horror and knowledge, made her heart bleed and her breath stop at what the thought meant. Her wide brown eyes settled on the boys peaceful face, mind shrieking the only explanation possible.

Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage, did not have an Advanced Bloodline.

_An Onijutsu! It was an Onijutsu!_

Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who dreamed of being the next Hokage...

...was a Jinchūriki!

* * *

The forest was quiet, still, in the gathering dark of the night. The only sound was that of heavy breathing as an elegant man, dressed in white clothes stained red, sat applying healing herbs to his wounds. He wasn't in too bad of shape, overall.

Who would have believed a child dressed in orange could stand before him. Uzumaki Naruto was an odd one, he could use wind based jutsu without hand seals, could apparently heal without thought and he could use the Rasengan. Oh yes, Naruto was not a normal kid and Yasashige Isaribi very much looked forward to killing the boy in a true fight.

No silly ambushes, no squabbling over money. Just him; Isaribi of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, against Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure no Sato.

Finishing his application of healing herbs, he took a deep breath, and then let it out before looking at the shattered shaft of his Naginata. Picking it up, he thumbed the worn wood, knowing that it had been about time he replaced the staff, but he felt bad. Still, with deft movements he removed the blade and tossed the shattered wood aside.

Before anything, he had to find a fitting replacement. Climbing to his feet, the swordsman looked around the forest curiously. Mostly it was kashi, which traditionally was selected for its strength, durability, and the fact that it compressed slightly at the point of impact to ensure it did not bend, crack, or splinter.

Isaribi however, preferred Sunuke, which had all the same properties as kashi, but was slightly heavier and denser. He strolled silently among the trees and roots, looking for just right piece of wood until startled by a voice from a few feet behind him.

"Isaribi-sama, it is a pleasure to see one such as yourself."

Turning quickly, prepared in case it was a Mist Hunter-nin, he instead found someone dressed in the typical Konoha ANBU outfit. Except for the mask, it looked odd: a normal face with six simple marks over each eye. There was also a lack of emotions, a total blank spot and Isaribi knew this was not the typical black ops ninja.

"Bonsowa-ru," the former Mist Ninja said politely, watching for any sign of attack "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, you know who I am but I cannot say the same of you."

"So sorry, my name is not important," the figure said "but you may call me Hiryu."

"Very well, Hiryu-san," Isaribi said politely "what exactly brings you out here so late at night? Better still, where are you from exactly?"

"I am a member of an organization; I cannot say which, within Konoha. I am here, of course, to speak with the Elegant Monster of the Mist and to make an offer that you may find beneficial."

Isaribi kept his immediate reaction, to attack and then flee in the confusion, in check. After all, if this man was on the up and up, which he seemed to be, then this could be a good thing for him. With a subtle move that Hiryu didn't miss, he motioned for the man to continue.

"I work for a group within Konoha that seeks to bring unity to the land, to do this we are willing to offer you an alliance if you will help us." Hiryu paused, then seeing the lack of objection continued "we have many enemies opposed to our efforts, enemies that we may not be in a position to properly neutralize at the moment. So we ask humble that if you would lend us your strength, then when the time is right, in exchange we will repay your kindness in whatever manner you wish."

"So in other words," Isaribi said slowly, considering the offer carefully "if I 'remove' these obstacles that you are unable to at the moment, you will repay me with whatever I ask for?"

"Hai, is there something you would ask for?"

"Yes," Isaribi said slowly, eyes almost glowing in anticipation "I wish to fight Uzumaki Naruto, alone in a proper fight. If you can grant me that, I will happily 'remove' whatever obstacles you place before me."

"...I believe an arrangement can be made." Hiryu said, then reaching into the cloak he wore produced a scroll offering it to Isaribi "If you do not mind, this is the matter we need handled now. We are in delicate negotiations with a very important figure within Konoha and this could greatly help us."

Taking the scroll, the former Mist ninja read what was written inside, and then nodded looking up at Hiryu. "Let me repair my weapon and you'll have Daifu's head on a pike by the morning."

* * *

**Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu**: Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist  
**Kamikaze no Yaiba**: Sword of Divine Wind  
**Onijutsu**: Demon Art  
**Tenkeichiyu**: Divine Healing  
**Jinch****ū****riki**: Power of Human Sacrifice 


	28. Chapter 27: Team Ten

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 27  
_-Team Ten-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

Naruto woke up with a throbbing in his temples and a slight stiffness in his left arm, most likely from where he had been sleeping on it. Grunting the blond rolled onto his back, staring up at the dingy ceiling. He couldn't quite remember everything, but he knew that he was alive and hence apparently in friendly territory.

Scowling, Naruto flashed back to the fight against that Isaribi guy. He had the impression that not to much time had passed between then and now, but rather than start jumping about he instead thought of the fight. It had, in all honesty, not been one of his better fights. Hell, he had only just barely managed to keep from being killed and it had taken a random jutsu to drive the man off.

Who the hell was that Isaribi? Who were the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu? Why had that guy backed off after Naruto used the Rasengan, when before that he had been so excited every time Naruto countered him?

Shaking his head, a bad idea, Naruto sat up to take in the room. Obviously it wasn't the most lavish of places, but wasn't meager, more comfortable than anything. Still he was slightly worried about the lack of signs of his team, which instantly put him on his guard.

He was just contemplating his lack of weapons when the door opened and an oblivious Yamanaka Ino entered carrying a tray with two steaming bowls. The scent however, made his mouth water it was, unbelievable she had...

"Miso Ramen?"

"Gah!" Ino shouted, nearly upsetting the tray before steadying it and glaring at him "Geez, don't scare me like that Naruto-kun!"

"Aah, sorry Ino-chan!" Naruto offered, scratching the back of his head.

Ino paused, stared at him and then blinked. Naruto, sensing the sudden change, watched as the girl knelt and set her tray aside. She stared at him for a few more minutes than carefully reached out to poke his forehead. "You're awake!"

"Well yeah," Naruto said blinking "I mean sure, I took some of those stupid cuts but I heal fast remember?"

"I know, but, well Tsunade-obasan said that the weapon might have been poisoned," Ino explained, looking more relieved by the minute "I was worried you would die in your sleep."

"Bah, I gotta be Hokage before I'll die," Naruto said flashing her a smile before blinking "so where is Shino and Baba? Oi, plus, where the hell are we? Edyoto?"

"No, we're in Otafuku Gai. Shino and Tsunade-obasan are delivering the money for her gambling debts," Ino said shaking her head and picking up a bowl handed it to him along with chopsticks "I'm suppose to stay behind and keep an eye on you. Tsunade-obasan isn't very happy with any of us, especially me..."

"Wha?" Naruto asked, eyes wide, ramen falling back into the bowl "why not? We kept the bastard from taking the money-"

"You got hurt, and we couldn't do anything. Especially me," Ino said with a shrug "we let our teammate nearly get killed, when if we were just a little bit stronger he wouldn't have had to fight alone."

"That's stupid," Naruto said with a scowl "that guy was crazy strong-"

"No, she's right," Ino admitted morosely picking at her ramen "I was never meant to be a combat type. Infiltration and information is my specialty."

"Yeah, but we didn't have a chance for that," Naruto argued back, glaring at her "there were THREE of them and we each had to fight one."

"Naruto-kun, I appreciate what you're saying to do but I couldn't get close to him. I shouldn't have been placed on this mission, without my sword I'm mostly useless."

"So, learn how to fight without your sword," Naruto said, unable to believe this was the Ino from the academy. That Ino had always been sure of things, confident in her abilities and talent. This one seemed to doubt the usefulness she served on this time in a fight. "Oi, if you want I can show you a Ninjutsu Anko taught me."

"What good would that do?" Ino asked blankly.

"Well it's called the Kanashibari no Jutsu," Naruto explained, excitement creeping into his voice as the idea he had took shape "it freezes a person in their tracks and I think, if you concentrate hard enough you can use it stop someone's heart. I haven't tried it yet, but you cold give it a shot."

"..." Ino blinked then set her meal down "Naruto-kun, I appreciate the thought but I'm not sure I could learn that."

"Oh come on," Naruto said, brushing her protest off before stuffing ramen into his mouth "Aber lunch ok?" when she nodded he focused entirely on his meal, trying to remember all the details he could about the technique. After the first few times of using it, Naruto had gotten to the point where it was pure instinct like all his techniques now.

Still he could vaguely remember the details and he'd make up the rest as he went. Turning back to his meal he grinned at her, slurping his ramen up as she rolled her eyes and began eating as well. "So what's Otafuku Gai like?" Naruto asked after a moment, stirring his broth absently.

"Well, it's nowhere near the size of Edyoto and the biggest industry seems to be gambling and the 'pleasure district." Ino explained darkly, arching an eyebrow at him "speaking of Edyoto, why were you so tense there?"

"Eh?" Naruto managed, then silently considered how best to answer that question. Well she was his team mate, so maybe he needed to tell her. Considering it, he shook his head and met her gaze "Later, when Shino's here."

"Ok," Ino relented, though she studied him intently for several long moments before sighing "So, how are you going to teach me this Ninjutsu?"

"Oh," Naruto said perking up happily "we'll go up to the roof and I'll create some Kage Bunshin for you to practice on. Well, after I restock my weapons."

"Shino thought about that," Ino said pointing at a nearby pouch "full of fresh kunai, exploding notes, caltrops, and shuriken. We all restocked, though Obasan said it was a waste of resources."

"Ah, thanks!" Naruto said grabbing the pouch, then eyed his jacket, resigned that he would have to patch it. Springing up he grinned down at her, stretching. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

Ten minutes later, both ninja were standing on the rooftop, the sun setting on the far edge of the city. Naruto stretched yet again and then created two Kage Bunshin, who smiled brightly at Ino. The Real Naruto walked away, then turned back facing Ino and the two Kage Bunshin.

"Right, so for now just watch k?" Then at Ino's nod, one of the Kage Bunshin charged him, a kunai coming up, plunging toward his face. Without moving or flinch, Naruto struck with the Kanashibari freezing the attacking Kage Bunshin in place, the kunai an inch from his face.

Stepping away, he grinned at a startled Ino "See, he'll be frozen in this position for five minutes. Anyway, the secret...er...you sorta project your chakra at the target."

"I do what?"

"Well," Naruto mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully "you mold your chakra, and then you throw it at the target. Kinda like a spear or kunai, anyway you throw it at the arms and legs or that sorta thing."

"Right," Ino drawled dubiously, then faced her own Kage Bunshin who started jumping up and down and waving his arms. Naruto felt the surge of chakra, then felt it scatter and shook his head. Ino, scowling, tried again only to have the same result. Twenty minutes later, she still had no luck and an hour later was the same story.

"I can't do this!" Ino huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at a bored Naruto who was busy practicing with his kunai and the second Kage Bunshin.

"Maybe we're doing this wrong," the Naruto Kage Bunshin offered, dodging a throw from the real Naruto.

"Probably," the Real Naruto admitted, turning to match her stare for stare. He really wasn't sure why she wasn't getting it, just that her chakra would build and then scatter when she tried to hurl it. Scowling he thought about it for several long minutes before realizing that her problem resembled his with the Rasengan and then a devious thought came to mind.

"Naruto-kun, why are you smiling like that?" Ino asked, her tone worried and then yelped as the two Naruto clones suddenly attacked her with Kunai. Ino backpedaled, instinctively going for her sword only to remember she had left it and her weapons behind at Naruto's prompting. Dodging the first lunge and shoving that Naruto away she glared at the now laughing real Naruto. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Not if they get you first!" Naruto laughed, nodding at the Kage Bunshin who were now attacking in unison. They moved in synch, weaving back and forth in front of each other before one lunged, blade gleaming in the moonlight. Ino stepped to the side, the kunai coming within inches of her side and dropped an elbow on its head.

She was caught flat-footed however, as the second one used the first one as a spring board and caught her in the mouth with a kick. Tumbling backward from the blow, Ino regained her feet, eyes wide as the two Naruto's charged her yet again. This time Ino went on the offensive, landing a kick to the first ones face, followed by a punch at the other. Only this time the second clone grabbed her arm and swung her around throwing her to the ground.

Ino sprang up easily, panting, and then she felt the killer intent. It was frightening and it was directed at her, she was nearly impaled by a kunai that was flying at her head, but she managed to grab the weapon and nail it's user with another throw. The Kage Bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke and the killer intent doubled, making Ino collapse on her ass in fright.

A second later the other Kage Bunshin came charging through the smoke, and jumped, hurling weapons down at her. Ino nimble rolled and dodged each blade, though they came closer and closer, until she regained her feet. Landing the Naruto didn't waste the energy to recenter himself and instead shot toward her at full speed, a kunai swinging back for an overhand stab.

Ino panicked, this one wasn't playing and it was moving too fast for her to counter or avoid. Gathering her chakra, the details of Naruto's face so clear, she focused everything she had into the blow and projected as big a 'chakra dagger' as she could. The Naruto in question suddenly jerked back from the blow, kunai dropping from his hand and then with a loud 'pop' disappeared.

Ino of course collapsed to her knees, hands on the rooftop, gasping for air. The adrenaline rush was intense, but as it subsided, she felt her shoulders shaking as the image of shock and surprise on Naruto's face replayed through her mind. Logically she knew it had been a Kage Bunshin, nothing more and nothing less, but it had been so real at the time.

The intent, her desire to live, the fact that it was Naruto...

When she felt a hand on her shoulder she jerked, and looked up to find him crouching next to her. His eyes were apologetic, but there seemed to be a look of pride on his face. Ino however, did the only thing she could do...and slapped the taste out of his mouth, knocking him on his ass.

"Ow!"

"You bastard!" Ino shouted, glaring at him "that, do you realize what that was like? I killed you! I'll never get that image out of my head now!"

"Oi, but Ino-chan, you did it," Naruto said getting up, rubbing his cheek "you used the Kanashibari no Jutsu and beat my Kage Bunshin in one shot."

"I don't care!" Ino shouted at him, standing as well.

"Ino-chan, it was just a-"

"Naruto," Ino said sharply, fixing him with a glare that made him pause "I saw YOU die, I killed you. Excuse me if I'm not jumping around for joy that I learned a Ninjutsu at the expense of having the memory of your face at the moment of death engraved into my memory."

"...I..." Naruto blinked, opened his mouth and then fell silent. Somehow, he instinctively knew better than to admit that he had actually felt some of the pain his Kage Bunshin had felt. Still, he needed to say something, but he didn't know what her problem was now. "I just thought, your problem was concentration...so if I had them attack you for real that you'd solve it."

"Just," Ino paused and looked away "just leave me alone."

"Ino-chan," Naruto said and then feeling her annoyance, frowned before doing as she asked.

* * *

Slipping quietly into the inn, Shino nodded briefly at the man behind the desk then started up the stairs. After the last few hours with Tsunade, running all over the city to pay off her debts, he was more than ready to rest. Unless Ino was tending to a still unconscious Naruto, in that case he would have to resign himself to another rant.

Ino apparently, took Tsunade's disdain for their skill hard. Which was understandable, Ino had been idolizing her great-aunt for a while now. Shino on the other hand accepted that Tsunade had an unbelievably high standard, which was unsurprising considering her history.

Shino also knew that while both he and Ino had not performed up to standards expected for combat, they were making steady progress. Both of them had originally been information gathering type ninja and they remained geared toward that. Only Naruto was predisposed toward combat and had been trained in that way.

So when Tsunade had let her disdain for his fighting skills bleed through he ignored her and calmly pointed out what his purpose was supposed to be on the team. Gathering information first, combat second and his priorities would not change. Tsunade took this with a curt nod and a muttered comment about people knowing their strengths.

Shaking his head Shino entered the room and paused, finding a conscious Naruto sitting on the futon and patching his jacket. More interesting was the fact that he was alone, Shino had been sure Ino would be present in this situation. Putting that aside, Shino entered the room completely and closing the door moved to his own futon.

"Oi, you and Baba have fun?" Naruto asked, not looking up from his efforts at repairing the tattered jacket.

"Fun would not be the term to use," Shino responded "we meet with several individual's and paid off her massive gambling debts. I however, learned much about her personality and this city."

Naruto grunted at this, which was rather unusual, but didn't look up from his efforts. Shino watched the boy intently, eyebrows drawing together in thought before finally speaking. "Has something occurred?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, looking up. Then realizing what Shino asked shook his head "nah, just trying to patch my jacket up."

"I see," Shino said frowning behind the high collar of his jacket "and Ino?"

"Out."

"Is she aware that you are awake?" Shino asked, almost scowling though it went unseen.

"Well yeah," Naruto said shrugging as he went back to work on his jacket "We trained together for a bit after I got up and then she asked me to leave her alone so I did."

"Why did she ask for you to leave?"

"Iunno," Naruto said with a shrug "I was teaching her the Kanashibari no Jutsu, but she was having a hard time with it so I had my Kage Bunshin attack her. After she used it to kill one, Ino-chan freaked out on me."

"That is odd," Shino said "did you say something inappropriate?"

"No!" Naruto said forcefully looking up at him "All I did was help her out, then she's freaking out about seeing the face of my Kage Bunshin when it 'died'."

"That does seem a tad unreasonable," Shino agreed "did you apologize? Sometimes it is best to apologize, even if he did nothing wrong."

"I tried but she just kept shouting about the Kage Bunshin, then she demanded I leave her alone, so I did."

"I fail to see why she is upset then." Shino said shaking his head, scowling in thought about why Ino would react in such a way to a perfectly normal way of training.

"Oi, I know why," Naruto said darkly, turning back to his jacket "'cause she's a girl and girls are crazy."

"For once, I agree with your decision."

* * *

Ino couldn't help but pace restlessly on the small rooftop where Naruto had left her. How could have done that to her, didn't he understand what it was like to see a friend's face at the moment of death? Ino had seen it and it haunted her, made her wish that it could be erased from her memory but even Yamanaka Techniques couldn't accomplish that.

Fisting her forehead she grumbled softly, then sat down heavily on the edge of the roof. It was partial her fault though, if she had just been able to concentrate he wouldn't have tried to help her like that. It wasn't that Ino hadn't tried; it was just that Tsunade's doubt in her skill made it impossible for her to concentrate on anything.

Snorting in annoyance the young woman propped her chin in her hands and stared out over the city. At first when she had been given this mission, Ino had been excited because she would be travelling with her aunt; the famous medical Sannin. It was a dream come true for Ino and the blond had wondered what, if anything, she could talk her aunt into teaching her.

Then that had fallen through, after she had went against the man with the Naginata. She had lost, and nearly got her team annihilated. Shino tried to explain that because they were originally information gathering types and hence were making up for lost time at combat.

Ino knew the truth though; they were pathetic. Naruto did all the fighting; the Kumo-iki, Akagahara, the Chūnin exams, Gaara and that wasn't even counting the fact that he had held off Orochimaru of the Sannin for a few minutes utterly alone. Just what good did she do for this team?

Hell, what good was her knowing Kenjutsu? Who had she ever fought and defeated? Ino was tempted to give up on the Kenjutsu, it would easy, but her pride wouldn't let her.

She had worked hard, harder than she ever had, to gain the abilities she now had. Then there was honoring her sensei's memory, he had entrusted _her_ with continuing his Kenjutsu style. No, she couldn't give up, but it still didn't mean she was any good. Ino need to work harder, much harder, to prove that she wasn't useless.

Maybe, if she asked very nicely, Tsunade might agree at least to teach her a basic medical Jutsu.

Yawning, the kunoichi started to get up; she needed to talk to Naruto, he wasn't exactly big on understanding other people's emotions. Plus, if nothing else, Naruto could and would at least teach her another useful move. A moment later however, there was an almost unnoticeable spike of chakra and Ino rolled backward out of instinct.

Coming up in a crouch out of view of the street below her, Ino added to her balance with a hand on the rooftop before her. Edging her way forward, Ino cautiously peered over the edge of the rooftop down to the street. There was her aunt, who was half-turned, facing someone who was partially in the shadows.

Ino squinted slightly in the gloom, trying to make out more details. Whoever they were, they appeared to be wearing harkima pants and a dark long-sleeved top. More telling of course was the white mask that so resembled the ANBU mask's that she had seen.

Obviously, whoever this was, they were highly talented and determined to keep their identity secret.

"Tsunade-sama," the figure said, their voice just barely reaching Ino.

"Who the hell are you?" Tsunade returned, a tad louder, though Ino still had to strain her hearing and control her breathing. Sadly, the wind shifted, making it impossible to hear for the moment. A second later, the wind died and Ino felt her mouth compress into a thin line at what she heard.

"-as a sign of faith we have removed those who would dishonor you by demanding money and wounding your comrades. If you decide to help us in our cause then we shall help you as it is needed, if you decline then we lose a vaunted ally."

The phrasing was so odd. The message of course was clear, but who exactly where they? Why we're they approaching Tsunade of all people and like this, in secret? It just didn't make any sense; still Ino forced the message to the back of her mind, focusing on the conversation.

Tsunade was saying something, what Ino couldn't tell since the wind had kicked up and was now carrying the words away from her once more. The figure responded softly with something that sounded like 'very well', but she couldn't swear to it. Then her eyes, trained to detect high-speed movement, saw the figure dart away into the night.

Ino waited another moment then quietly slipped away, needing to discuss this with her two team mates.

* * *

Tsunade was in a foul mood when she finally entered the Inn, mainly because she had been denied access to her favorite gambling centers because of her debt. Then she'd been forced to deal with a fool that assumed she was a 'working girl', he'd recover in a few months so she didn't feel too bad. Then after a night of drinking and sourly thinking about the three she was travelling with, a mysterious person had approached her.

They had dressed like an old style ANBU, though the face mask reminded her more of a Mist Hunter-nin. They were slight and though they were talented, obviously only Chūnin level. Tsunade guessed, it was more manner of speech than anything, that they had been a young male maybe fourteen or fifteen years old.

His message weighed heavily on her mind; though there were only a few key phrases that jumped out at her. 'Within Konoha, we lack unity', 'your aide in helping us to achieve this goal', 'if you decline then we lose a vaunted ally'. She had only heard of 'Unity' in passing upon her return, no real details but this unsettled her.

To make such an approach was not something anyone would have expected, plus there was the underlying threat implied in that last line.

Tsunade had of course declined the offer, she was a Sannin and she wasn't afraid. Besides, if they did move against her, she could potentially gain more information. Whoever they sent would be strong, though they would most likely underestimate her as most male ninja did, but by fighting him she would be able to figure out who he really was.

Of course that was a large gamble considering the handicaps she was under; an overrated team and her fear of blood. Dried blood she could handle, if she was truly enraged enough she could even handle fresh blood, provided she didn't notice it getting on her. Still, the die was cast and she would handle things as the fell.

Staring up the stairs, she was left with only one real problem, Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, who had set her into this position because of his sheer desire and determination to be Hokage had so forcible reminded Tsunade of her important people. Naruto, the son of the Yondaime Hokage who she had encouraged to take the job, who also happened to be a Jinchūriki.

Tsunade still couldn't believe it, after all of the Yondaime's speeches about how immoral and wrong it was to condemn children to such a fate; his violent reaction to hearing that Suna had created one; that he would in turn make his own. Obviously it was the Kyūbi no Yoko that Naruto held in check, that granted him that Onijutsu of regeneration.

Tsunade wasn't even sure what she could do or say. Who else knew? Jiraiya would obviously know, perhaps Anko, but not his team mates.

Tsunade felt that even Naruto might have only recently learned of his status. Should she bring it up with him? But the discussion would lead into dangerous territory about the nature of Jinchūriki and how they were treated. Shaking her head Tsunade resolved to leave the matter alone for the moment, she would talk with Jiraiya first.

Reaching the hallway, she came to a stop, spotting the boy that had been occupying her thoughts leaning against the wall outside his room. He had those eyes fixed on her and even in this dim hallway, Tsunade knew he wouldn't miss anything she did.

"You're up," Tsunade said causally walking to the door to her room.

"We need to talk."

"You know," Tsunade drawled, eying the blond in the dark hallway "I think idiots who let their team mates get hurt should be seen and not heard."

"We got hurt," Naruto countered in a tight voice "because we were guarding _your_ money baba."

"..." Tsunade shook her head, not even willing to get worked up over such a comment. The boy was young, brash and didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, despite what people thought.

"Who are the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence, eyes almost glowing in the dim light of the hallway.

"An elite group of Mist swordsmen: Momochi Zabuza, Hoshigaki Kisame, Kurosuki Raiga, Yasashige Isaribi, Uchijini Tenbatsu, Yamine Hachi and Gisei Make. Each one is Jōnin level and the five surviving members are A-rank or higher Missing ninja." Tsunade answered with a sigh, crossing her arms and resigned to answering such pointless questions.

"Ok," Naruto said slowly eyeing Tsunade closely "tell me about Isaribi."

"Is that the name of the one you guys fucked up against?" Tsunade asked with a snort, then seeing Naruto's glare shook her head "he's called the Elegant Monster of the Mist, and he used to use a Dao, but changed to the Naginata."

"But that's not a sword!"

"You know, I remember someone else saying that. They were the third candidate for the Yondaime Hokage title, and the guy mentioned that Isaribi wasn't a swordsman since he used it. Isaribi flayed him like a fish."

"Huh, so if he's so strong...then why the hell are you giving us a hard time?" Naruto asked curtly and a tad forcefully, "if he can fillet a Hokage Candidate I think two Chūnin and a Genin driving him off is a big deal."

"First off," Tsunade said glaring at him "he was not actively seeking to kill you three. Second, you were the only one that drove him away, the others lost to his Mizu Bunshin who are one-tenth of his strength. In other words, they were push over's, but that doesn't matter since he will be focusing on you from now on."

"He mentioned we'd met again," Naruto said blandly.

"Met? Once he meets someone he can't kill, he starts obsessing, he goes to any length to kill them and the longer he goes without killing them, the worse he gets."

"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

Tsunade continued darkly, ignoring that outburst "and finally, when the Sannin were your age we could have killed him easy."

"Well we're not you," Naruto countered just as darkly "this is Team Ten! I'll admit that it wasn't my best fight ever, but the next time I face him he won't walk away!"

"You keep telling yourself that and maybe one day, it'll be true," Tsunade said opening her door, glaring at him "but probably only after you've lost your whole team. Keep that in mind little boy, a hero is only a hero because he's gotten everyone else killed."

"Is that what you think baba?" Naruto asked thickly, anger rich in his voice. "So you're saying all those important people of yours got people killed?"

"You don't get it-" Tsunade started angrily, before being cut off.

"Oi, I get things fine!" Naruto shouted, his eyes narrowing "you're a cold hearted, self-righteous bitch hag! You think a hero gets everyone killed? You think a Hokage is a joke!? You're not only insulting me, but everyone you ever loved that dreamed of being Hokage!"

Tsunade almost recoiled from the hostility in his voice, the sheer loathing in his tone. Of course she wanted to object, would object, but for a moment she felt as if Dan and Nawaki were shouting at her. Calling her those names, telling her the same thing as Naruto was shouting.

Recovering, Tsunade prepared to shout back but found the hallway empty, just her and the cursed necklace she wore. It felt like a boulder around her neck, and reaching up the Sannin clutched it tightly. After a moments deliberation she pulled it off, crying, realizing that it was not hers to wear, Naruto had shown just how deeply being Hokage meant to him, his spirit echoing too loudly of Dan and her younger brother.

This would be the last time she entrusted this necklace to anyone, when Naruto died then the necklace went with him. Tsunade would not be able to bear the weight of the curse after that. Turning she opened the door and stepped inside, by the morning she would have recovered her veneer of disdain.

As she lay on her futon that night, she cried for her lost family.

* * *

Naruto landed adroitly on the rooftop, mind awash in the various pieces of information that he now possessed. Glancing around he noted that Shino was the only one present, but that he appeared absorbed with his bugs. That meant Shino had found something and Ino had gone to investigate, giving Naruto a moment to think about what he had learned.

Sitting down on the rooftop, Naruto crossed his arms, scowling. He didn't really understand that hag's problem; who went around spouting about how a hero got other's killed? She was seriously fucked up in the head if she thought like that, a hero didn't get others killed, he stopped others from being killed.

His scowl deepened as he thought more and more about that conversation, he had meant every word. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was up with that hag. Shaking it off, he instead turned to the facts he had learned about the man that had attacked them yesterday; Yasashige Isaribi.

Naruto felt almost excited at the thought of having such a person trying to kill him, it proved Naruto was strong, but he could already see the downside. A man that got obsessed the longer he went without killing his target? Oh yeah, that was a good thing for a future-Hokage to have, there was no telling when that bastard would show back up.

Still at least now he knew how to at least help Ino accept her defeat, an A-rank missing-ninja was not something any of them should be facing. Adding that, along with his own defeat, should at least help Ino get over the loss. Though he was still unclear as to why she had freaked out on him earlier during the Kage Bunshin training.

Scowling even more, the Chūnin thought long and hard about certain things she had said: 'I saw YOU die, I killed you.', 'the memory of your face at the moment of death'. It was like a bolt of lightning struck him as he realized the problem; his Kage Bunshin had looked like _him_, so she was upset because of seeing his face as he died.

Obviously, Naruto realized eyes wide, Ino didn't like seeing him hurt. He remembered the Forest of Death, the concern she had shown for him being hurt after his fight against that snake bastard. Hadn't she said that he was 'more important than Sasuke'; hence if she cared that much about him being hurt, seeing 'him' die would have to be horrible.

He sat there, utterly surprised at such a concept. Then he tried to play it off, or talk it around so that he was just over thinking things, but no, it was obvious now. She considered him important enough that even seeing his Kage Bunshin die was enough to upset her.

"I'm back," Ino suddenly said, and Naruto jerked, almost falling over at her silent arrival. Ino didn't seem to notice as she moved to sit down with them, her eyes hard. There was no hint of her normal attitude, which told him that whatever she had learned was serious.

"What did you learn?" Shino asked, apparently rejoining the conversation.

"The boy's name is Haku;" Ino said "he's working with someone named Zabuza. I didn't have much time since he started waking up as soon as I entered his mind, so I had to get out of there."

"Zabuza?" Naruto repeated, mind flashing to the names Tsunade had told him. No, that would be too much of a coincidence; that would only happen with an author that just didn't care about being called uncreative.

"Yeah," Ino said with a slight nod.

"At least we now have names," Shino offered, before a soft buzz filled the air. "Perhaps Ino should tell us once more of the message she overheard between Tsunade-sama and this Haku."

"-as a sign of faith we have removed those who would dishonor you by demanding money and wounding your comrades. If you decide to help us in our cause then we shall help you as it is needed, if you decline then we lose a vaunted ally."

"Oi, is that everything?" Naruto asked, frowning slightly.

"That's all I could hear," Ino admitted with a frown "which isn't much, but still..."

"Obviously the meeting is strange," Shino allowed, nodding slightly "that last line is obviously a threat on her life."

"Huh? you sure?" Naruto asked, glancing at the boy curiously.

"Considering the nature of the message and the timing of the meeting, yes."

"Damn it," Naruto grumbled before looking at Ino. "Ok, so what about the messenger himself, what he'd look like?"

"I couldn't see much, and obviously I didn't get too close when I entered his mind, but he looked a lot like the ANBU..."

"...fuck," Naruto whispered, eyes widening. Admittedly, he was not the most brilliant of people, but he could connect the dots. An ANBU, meeting Tsunade alone, making that kind of offer? It screamed Unity!

"What is it?" Ino asked startled, blinking.

"Unity," Naruto said glancing between them. Then seeing the lack of response explained "it started just before our Chūnin exams. The Daimyo was making a State Visit of the country, and he was hanging out in Edyoto where this group called Unity tried to assassinate him."

"So that's why you were so alert in Edyoto," Shino said.

"Yeah, so anyway, Unity is made up of mostly ANBU, with some normal Jōnin. Other than that, the only thing I know about them is that they recognize each other by a hand sign."

"What hand sign?"

"A basic variation on the 'all-together' sign," Naruto supplied, demonstrating briefly, quoting Anko exactly. "Most hand signs are common sense, used in small squads. So, of course, Unity would use a common one; who would notice a slight variation?"

"This isn't good," Ino said after a moment, chewing her finger nail "ANBU and Jōnin? If Tsunade-obasan turned them down and they really are going to try and kill her how are we suppose to stop them?"

"We allow them ambush us," Shino answered "That is the best strategy, considering the various unknown factors."

"...Say wha?" Ino asked eyes wide.

"Shinobi Rule Fifty-nine," Shino explained softly, "a true Shinobi can turn any ambush or trap against the one who initiated it."

"Ah," Ino said turning to Naruto, smirking "so what's the plan?"

Naruto crossed his arms, thinking deeply for several long minutes on the situation. Those guys were definitely were going to be going after Tsunade, but she was a Sannin so she could probably handle it. However, knowing what little he did of ANBU, her age, and the fact that she was related to Ino it would be best not to risk her life.

"Ok," Naruto said finally, grinning "this is what we'll do..."

* * *

Haku watched in silence as the group, located in a small clearing just off the main road, finished their lunch and set out once more, the undercurrents obvious to his well-trained eye. The Aburame was walking point, but obviously focusing inward too much; the target was walking with a glacial silence, glaring at the orange clad boy who was bickering with the blond girl wearing the sword.

They were all oblivious to the shadow following them, preparing to cut off their retreat when the ambush occurred. They were about five miles out from the city and as predicted they were taking routes not normally travelled, where sources of water were far less plentiful. It was a shame they did not know that they're had been an isolated storm ahead last night.

Following silently, Haku felt disappointed by Tsunade's decision; she had a good heart and it was a shame they would have to kill her now. As a medic, Tsunade would have been invaluable to Konoha in the upcoming turmoil and if it were up to him, Haku would try to reason with her. It wasn't up to him though, so it would be a shame when Zabuza killed her, but she really had left them with no other choice.

Sensing something moving swiftly at him from ahead, Haku dropped back and then dodged further out of rang to avoid a swarm of bugs on patrol. Apparently, the Aburame wasn't quite as inattentive as he had first thought, still the bugs retreated and Haku moved back into better position. Glancing at the team, he smiled behind his mask, seeing the others sending silent, but obvious signals to each other.

So they were suspicious. Good, they really were ninja then. Not that it would matter, ahead he could see the marker Zabuza-sama had placed for him. The ambush would start in a few moments, Zabuza would attack from ahead and Haku would cut off the retreat, they would be dead and Haku could continue helping Zabuza-sama.

Readying his needles, the teen came to a stop high in a tree and crouched on the tree branch. It would be any moment now and he selected his target point for Tsunade and the blonde girl closet to her. He silently offered a pray of remorse to the gods, and promised to end things peacefully for both of them.

The veins in the neck would be best, easiest to hit and the quickest to end things.

* * *

Ino could feel her nerves screaming at her, accurately aware of the ninja that had been trailing them stopping. The jaws of the ambush were closing and it was taking all of her training to continuing acting normal. Ino just hoped that this plan wouldn't blow up in their faces; after all, it was counting a lot on there just being two ninja and their over-confidence.

Still, it was Naruto and he came up with good plans. Though Ino in this case had doubts about the logic of this one; Ino would be responsible for handling Haku, while Naruto and Shino handled Zabuza. Even with Naruto's explanation about taking Tsunade's criticism with a grain of salt, since the guy they had fought was an A-rank missing ninja, having her famous aunt bad-mouthing her skills was not conductive to her confidence.

Ino was jolted out of her thoughts as she felt Tsunade grab the back of her outfit and pull her back as a massive blade spiraled through the air. Ino watched the arc of the blade, surprised at speed it was travelling. Then, with a resounding thud, it sunk into a thick tree and a moment later a tall man, wearing only loose pants and heavy books, landed on the handle.

Zabuza.

With a simple hop, he flipped backward, pulling the sword free as he descended. Landing he turned, the massive weapon coming around to rest casually across his bare shoulders, staring at them with cold eyes from over the bandages around the lower half of his face. Ino couldn't help but feel a tiny shiver as she realized this man was a killer through and through.

"Tsunade," the man said in a cold, unrefined voice "how nice to finally met you."

"Oi, are you Momochi Zabuza, of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu?" Naruto asked, moving between the group to try and stare down the man.

"Heh, well-informed for a ninja wannabe huh?" the killer said, his attention shifting to Naruto. "By the way, that's a nice trick with the Bunshin there."

Naruto tensed, and Ino felt a wave of killer intent from Naruto wash over her. The kenjutsu user couldn't help but shiver, she hated the feeling it gave her around Naruto. Still, further thoughts were cast aside as a flurry of darts flew started toward her and Ino reacted without thinking.

Her sword clearing the scabbard, deflecting them expertly, and then shifting her grip to a two handed hold Ino darted into the trees. The boy in question, wearing a mask with a stylized flame, moved back in response while throwing more sebon needles, but Ino's kodachi gracefully deflected them. A moment later she reached the treeline and hurtled up the branches toward him.

Now that she moving, in the thick of battle, there was no more doubt.

Reaching the same branch as her attacker, she made a quick thrust at his mask but he dodged back, a kunai appearing in hand. Following nimbly, Ino gave chase driving him back, her kodachi scraping against the kunai repeatedly. Then suddenly Haku stopped retreating and went on the offensive, Ino brought her Kodachi around knocking his attack aside.

It was a testimony to the skill of both when they spun in unison on the branch and came back around for another exchange. Ino lunged forward, blade aimed at his stomach, but had it deflected to the side. Haku followed that up by making his own slash at her face, forcing Ino to bend back allowing the kunai to pass inches from her face.

Regaining her proper posture, Ino whipped her sword around in an attempt to slice the boy in half. Instead, Haku nimble jumped off the branch, rebounding off a series of branches heading for the ground. Cursing Ino jumped off the branch, channeling chakra into her sword, reinforcing it as she brought it over head.

Haku reached the ground a second before her, and then looked up raising his kunai to block her blow. Ino smirked and yelled, the kodachi beginning its downward arc. Haku seemed to realize the danger and dodged back at the last second, a shrill sheering noise followed by a deep rumble filling the air.

Standing from her crouched position, Ino felt slightly light head, but couldn't stop her grin. At her feet was a sliced in half Kunai and a deep gouge from where her sword had bit into the ground. Looking up she found the masked boy standing perfectly still, his attention focused on her completely. Slowly, carefully, he produced a new kunai head tilting slightly as if giving her serious thought.

That was when Ino felt the first rush of excitement; someone was finally taking her as a serious threat. Somebody was afraid _of_ her, Yamanaka Ino.

Slipping her left foot back, settling her weight evenly, she raised her Kodachi edge up, along the side of her cheek. A brief surge of chakra to her legs, she shot forward, a sharp thrust toward Haku's mask. The kunai came up, scraping against the blade, before locking against the hand guard and blade.

Dropping her weight slightly, Ino shoved him back eyes narrowing in concentration. Haku darted forward, a rapid series of exchanges in a matter of moments leaving Ino almost overwhelmed. Was it her, or was the guy getting faster?

Lunging for his stomach, the boy managed to side-step her blade and counter with a kick to her right knee. Ino went with the momentum and rolled to her feet, before twisting around, her kodachi deflecting the kunai. Regaining her feet, slipping her left foot back and holding the blade angled toward this solar plexus, Ino waited for his next move.

Haku _was_ fast, fast as Sasuke easily, maybe even faster. The boy darted forward once more, another kunai in hand but Ino deflected the weapon aside and then down, before side-kicking him in the head. Haku flipped back from the blow, but managed to plant a hand on the ground and flip around to rebound off a tree and land in crouching stance.

Ino almost growled in frustration, this was getting nowhere fast. He had her beat in speed, but her skill neutralized it; a standoff. Then Haku shot forward, two kunai in hand this time. Ino pulled her kodachi around quickly, slashing at his mid-section only to have him hook his right blade under hers while spinning to his right.

The obvious thing, if Ino had been weaker or undertrained, would be for her release the weapon. Instead, she spun with the momentum, the Kodachi escaping the kunai, allowing her to spin around and catch his free wrist. Her Kodachi coming back around, Ino prepared to make an attack but had to dodge back as the second kunai came back toward her ribs.

A few simply acrobatics moved her out of the path of the two kunai as they came at her, before skidding to a halt. Looking up, Ino stared at her opponent, surprised to find him breathing heavy. A rush of pride flooded through her, she was handling this; she was equal to an ANBU.

Then it was shattered when the boy spoke. "You are very talented. However, I am afraid you are unable to defeat me."

"Huh?" Ino asked, a sense of dread filling her.

"It rained in this area last night." Haku said calmly before flashing through a series of one-handed seals. Moments later a hail of razor sharp needles made of water assaulted Ino, prompting her to channel chakra along her blade and unleash a tornado to scatter the needles.

The boy was undaunted however, as he began forming more one-handed seals. Even more water took to the air, taking the shape of several large mirrors as they surrounded Ino. Eyes wide Ino felt her dread growing, this was not a good development. Then much to her growing distaste, the ninja stepped backward melting into a mirror.

"Oh you've _got_ to be kidding me."

* * *

Dodging the massive sword, Shino found himself in the hands of a Kage Bunshin who tossed him into the air. Flipping, Shino sailed clear of Zabuza and his weapon, before landing heavily in front of a Mizu Bunshin of Zabuza. Thankfully he managed to create a spear of his bugs and send it through the man's head creating a spray of water, and thus reducing the number of Zabuza's down to one. Turning the Aburame spotted Naruto and his few remaining Kage Bunshin trying to hurt the man.

After Ino had taken off after Haku, things had degenerated. First, it had been semi-even, between himself and Naruto, they'd been pushing Zabuza...and then the man had created those Mizu Bunshin, which thankfully had been weaker than normal due to the lack of water. Still, the plan had fallen apart and Shino would be more hindrance than help in a direct assault on the sword wielding ninja, not that Naruto seemed to care.

The blond was throwing all sorts of wind jutsu at the man, taijutsu combinations and even a few underhanded tricks. The sad truth was, that no matter how much Naruto tried, Zabuza always managed to scrap through with as little damage as possible. Suddenly Zabuza brought his sword around, slicing the last few Kage Bunshin down and coming within inches of gutting Naruto, but Shino's bugs moved on their own and formed a Kikai Bunshin to absorb the blow and allow Naruto to retreat.

Maybe Shino couldn't actively help with the fight, but he could cover Naruto as best he could. As the orange clad ninja regrouped and made yet more Kage Bunshin, Shino silently guided his Kikai to key locations on the man's body replacing those already present. Shino had devised the tactic after the start of the fight in an attempt to drain as much of the man's chakra as he could.

So far, the man had seemed unaware of the drain, but Shino had a limited amount of Kikai left unaffected from the exposure to the water. Zabuza seemed to be growing more agitated as Naruto and his clones resumed the fight and with a sudden blur of movement, the clones disappeared in puffs of smoke and Naruto crashed to the ground at Shino's feet from a kick to the face. Shino however, was eying the man who had struck a weird pose while glaring at them. It seemed to take a matter of seconds before the air was thick with a mist from nowhere.

"Fan out!" Naruto shouted, leaping to his feet, his breathing abnormally loud in the sudden hush, blood trailing from his mouth and scalp.

"Eight choices," a disembodied voice whispered from nowhere, while Shino strained to see. "Kidneys, Heart, liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck vein, brain."

Shino frowned behind his high collar, wondering what he could do. His bugs wouldn't be able to notice anything in time and he couldn't dissipate the mist, it was laced too heavily with chakra. Even Naruto's wind would have a hard time and he made a motion to the on edge boy not to try what he was obviously thinking about.

"You guys aren't bad," Zabuza taunted still hidden in the mist "but I'm the Demon of the Mist, expert in silent killing."

"You're an eyebrow less freak!" Naruto shouted, heatedly and hands coming together, unleashed a surprisingly strong blast of wind. It actually swirled the mist and forced it to part at least within close vicinity of them. Shino spotted it first and grabbing Naruto yanked him down as Zabuza's massive sword slashed through the space they had both just occupied and then his world blurred, almost making him retch, as a shunshin carried them further away from the man.

Coming out of it he found Naruto kneeling next to him, bleeding and glaring. Looking at Zabuza, who sported little more than a few shallow cuts, Shino realized just how matched they were.

"You're fast ain't you," Zabuza said, sword coming to rest on his shoulder "but I'm going to kill you."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly as he suddenly charged, fifty Kage Bunshin emerging from thin air and began throwing explosive kunai "that's our plan!"

* * *

Ino knew when she had first seen Haku's trick with the mirrors to expect the worst. However, she still had no way of preparing for the assault that had followed. The numerous Haku's had lifted their hands, holding senbon needles and suddenly the air was full flying weapons. They were moving at a speed that Ino could only register shadows of movement and it took all of her skill to deflect the ones aimed at her vital points.

That had been the pattern for the last few minutes, her continuously deflecting the needles, praying for a moment's break, wondering how in the hell this technique worked. Then suddenly there was a lull in the assault and the boy stared down at her from all sides, giving her the chance to attack. Ino took it and channeled the chakra along her sword hurling a tornado toward the mirrors.

Sadly, it failed to have the desired result, her chakra was too low to do any damage to the mirrors and she realized how stupid she had been for using so many powerful moves early in the fight. Her only option now was to figure out the secret to this jutsu and then kill the boy. A hail of needles came at her from all sides, but Ino nimbly deflected them while watching the reflections in the mirrors, knowing Haku had to be changing mirrors rapidly since that was the only explanation.

"Trying to follow me with your eyes, you will never be able to cope." the boy said from over the mirror overhead, while the numerous reflections lifted their senbon needles in synch.

"How the hell are you moving so fast?" Ino shouted, deflecting the incoming attack, desperately seeking the chance to attack but not finding it.

"This jutsu is unique to me," Haku admitted, pausing once more "I use the mirror's reflection to travel, to me you appear to be moving in slow-motion."

Ino felt her breath hitch, her eyes widen. The way he had said that 'unique to me', the why he described the move, it sounded like an Advanced Bloodline of some sort. Her hopes of overcoming it suddenly seemed to disappear, and then she noticed something. He was talking a lot more and the mirror she had attacked was still cracked.

That raised a red flag in her mind, common sense suddenly screaming at her. With the small amount of water that would be available from the rain last night, he had to be using an ungodly amount of chakra to hold it all together. She could outlast him, if she did as Kakashi had taught her for the Chūnin exams and relied on her sixth sense to survive.

Still, Haku traveled at unbelievable speeds -he was actually attacking from all sides at once after all- and Ino was hard pressed to defend herself. Not that Ino could or would give up, but the fact was she was helpless. Her chakra was low, her stamina was not enough to get her through this and her blade was slowing just a little bit from fatigue.

Deflecting a flurry of needles as best she could, Ino could feel the early signs of exhaustion setting in.

He paused to talk again and Ino frantically applied her mind to the problem, desperate for a solution. The mirrors were obviously beyond her ability to destroy with her low chakra. Defending was getting her nowhere, except dead slowly. He moved too fast for her to disrupt his attack, but her only option was just that.

Killing him while he attacked her, but the problem was how?

Then she remembered the jutsu Naruto had taught her yesterday, a jutsu she had mastered by killing his Kage Bunshin with a massive heart attack. A jutsu forever linked to the look of surprise on his face as he died. Kanashibari no Jutsu was her only choice, but there was still one last problem; how to slow Haku down long enough to hit him with it. A moment later Shinobi Rule fifty-eight flashed through her mind and Ino knew the answer.

'_Victory sometimes comes through defeat.'_

An unnatural calm stole through Ino, she knew how to win now; it was just a matter of keeping it from looking obvious. Dodging instead of deflecting the next hail of weapons, Ino made a lunge for the mirror the boy was in. It was serious gamble on her part, her reflexes against his accuracy and speed.

The senbon needle struck her dead to rights in the chest and she jackknifed from the blow to land spread eagle on the ground. There was a moment of silence and then sound of the mirrors cracking before they shattered. The sound of feet connecting with the ground filled the damp air "You never had a hope of defeating me. Your kenjutsu could not destroy my ice and you could not move fast enough to catch me."

A second later, he jerked in surprise, his body folding from an unseen impact of chakra, while Ino had managed to sit up quickly. Breathing heavily, using an arm to support her, she watched as he stumbled back, before collapsing with a dull thump. Gathering her energy, Ino carefully regained her feet and stood stooped shoulder for a moment, then retrieved the kodachi she had dropped in that last attack.

Pausing she straightened up, then grasping the senbon pulled it free with a soft grunt. Looking at the blood covered needle, she tossed it aside, grimacing in pain as she sheathed her sword. Ok, so that was not the most brilliant idea she'd ever had, but at least she was alive.

Thankfully, her reflexes had been better than his speed and accuracy, allowing her to twist her body just enough to avoid taking a serious hit but from the feel of it, she'd cut it awfully close. Even more thankfully, the bandages around her upper body had absorbed some of the blow. Feeling a moment of pride, she looked at now dead boy and grimaced, but still she was proud this had not been an easy fight for her.

Still, Ino had to say it, because now that the fight for her life was over she couldn't help it "You talked too damn much like Sasuke, by the way."

After another moment she turned, heading back toward the rest of her team.

* * *

Naruto shot in, ducking the massive blade as it swept over head, and spun around with a hammer-fist toward the man's ribs. Sadly, it was like trying to fight Anko; this bastard could react faster than Naruto could attack. Zabuza stepped back and dropped his sword in a sharp chop, Naruto quickly threw himself into a left shoulder roll and sprang to his feet as two clones grabbed and threw him completely to safety.

Landing he spun, the clones buying time as best they could.

This fight was not going well and Naruto knew it, he should have been able to handle this. Instead, Zabuza was tearing him to shreds, slowly, and Naruto was beginning to doubt his own skill. He quickly banished that, after all, Zabuza while powerful was still taking some damage. It was just that in comparison Naruto was taking the worst of it all and that grated against the boy worse than anything and he was determined to change things.

Raising his fingers, Naruto created a few hundred Kage Bunshin and sent them after they guy, who seemed to be growing more pissed off with each passing second.

Glancing left, he spotted Shino who was silently guiding a wave of Kikai to attack the man from behind. Seeing his teammate, Naruto thought about Ino and wondered if she had managed to win against her enemy or not. Creating another Kage Bunshin, he sent it on its way to find out, his heart almost in his throat at the thought of her lying dead in the forest.

No, not Ino and not on his watch. This fight ended now!

Naruto returned to the fight with renewed vigor. It was sheer chaos weaving and dancing his way through the Kage Bunshin, using them as cover and distraction. Explosive notes were going off right and left, massive amounts of exploding kunai and shuriken and it all proved utterly pointless as Zabuza finally got a bead on him and swung that massive weapon around to take his head off, destroying several Kage Bunshin in the process.

Naruto ducked under the blow, much to Zabuza's obvious confusion then sliced a kunai across his stomach. The Missing ninja grunted at that, lashing out, but Naruto dodge that as well and drove the kunai into the shoulder at an angle. Zabuza actually yowled in pain, but pivoted catching Naruto alongside the head with a knee that sent him tumbling away.

Face livid, Naruto regained his feet with a sway and turned dismayed that the man was ripping the kunai out of his shoulder with a demonic ferocity. Still, that should at least slow the damn sword down a little bit. A moment later Naruto dodged the kunai by hairs-breadth, followed by the massive weapon that came around faster than ever.

Shino came to the rescue with a massive spear of bugs that clashed against the blunt side of the sword and gave Naruto time to put some space between him and Zabuza. Kami the guy should have been slower, or more reserved, he was wounded after all, but instead the guy just got more enraged. A Kage Bunshin tackled Zabuza from behind but he elbowed it in the face, then chopped another two in half, and kicked another in the face.

"Naruto, my Kikai have drained as much chakra as we could from this man," Shino said moving to stand beside him, his voice strained and his shoulder sagging "perhaps now would be a good time to retreat."

"Can't," Naruto panted, trying to blink blood out of his eye "he'll just come after us. I gotta finish this here and now, I already got one psychopathic sword user after me."

Naruto was only vaguely aware of Shino retreating, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered other than the simple fact that Naruto had finally decided to kill his enemy. He even had a plan, and it was amazing how simple everything became when he focused entirely on killing his enemy. In unison the various Kage Bunshin disappeared and Zabuza turned to stare him down.

A moment of understanding seemed to pass between them, no more games, no more dancing around it; it was time to get down the serious business of killing each other. Zabuza spun his sword quickly and drove it into the ground, his fingers beginning to form a rapid and long string of hand seals.

Naruto gathered as much chakra as he could, and formed a tora seal.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Zabuza shouted, the air around him rippling before the moisture exploded and joined into a massive column of water in the form of a dragon hurling at him.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" Naruto roared, the now dry wind before swirling with an ear-splitting roar as it clashed against the other technique.

The clash of techniques raged for a moment before the wind tore through the water dragon, forcing Zabuza to use his sword as an anchor. Still the man and weapon slid several feet, leaving a deep gouge in the earth. It was hardly over, as Zabuza yanked his sword free and spun it before bringing it down, the air rippling before a spiraling blast of water shot out once more.

Naruto met this to with his wind, using the Kaze no Yaiba.

As the two techniques clashed, decimating much of the surrounding area, Zabuza shot forward. Naruto quickly created another Kaze no Yaiba, which Zabuza defended against by using his sword as a shield -which resulted in little more than the sword being sliced deeply several times-. It was not enough however, to deter the man who reached Naruto in a matter of seconds, his sword coming around swiftly.

Naruto dodged back, a second too slow, his arm receiving an ugly, cut from the tip of the blade. Swearing Naruto preformed a Shunshin backward and skidded to a halt, glaring at his attacker. Producing a kunai in each hand, Naruto shot forward with a series of Shunshin's attacking from every direction. Metal rang against metal as Zabuza defended against his onslaught, until Naruto found his opening and using the Hebi style, ducked a slash at his head and came up on the inside of the man's guard.

A kunai to the ribs, too shallow to kill, Naruto planted a foot against the man's leg and jumped backward into the air avoiding the retaliation. Twisting Naruto came around, sending not only the last kunai he was holding, but the ones strapped to his forearm heading for the man. They were deflected deftly with the massive sword but that was fine.

Landing with a flip, Naruto sprang away, and then rebounded from a tree, charging back at the man.

Zabuza spun his weapon over head, then brought it down sharply before him and charged as well. They met halfway between them, Zabuza made his thrust and Naruto using the Hebi dodged, attacking from his left side with a jumping punch to the face. It connected but only as a glancing blow and Naruto had to grab the man's head with his hand and hurl himself over. Landing he shot away with a Shunshin and pivoted, turning to face the man.

Despite appearances, this guy was freaking strong and he could take some serious damage. Naruto could too of course, his arm was burning slightly, but he knew without looking that the cut was healing rapidly. Then he noticed that the man was resting his massive sword across his shoulders, staring at him in a way that did not bode will in Naruto's opinion.

That was when Naruto looked down to discover his jacket was almost completely ruined. Apparently, he had been slightly off in his dodging of that weapon, the entire right side of his jacket was now gutted. That wasn't what got him though; the orange material was darker than it should have been which meant that Naruto was bleeding.

Nothing life-threatening, for him at least, but Naruto would have sworn he had dodged that weapon completely.

Looking back up he narrowed his eyes on his opponent who started laughing in a tone that sent a chill even up Naruto's spine. Fury over took him though and he clenched his fists, knuckles popping loudly in the air. "What the hell are you laughing at you freak?!"

"Nothing," Zabuza said snidely, the sword coming around to point at Naruto steadily "it's just that you seem to have a bloodline like Haku. It's been a long time since I've had to fight a bloodline so I'm laughing for not seeing it sooner."

"Heh," Naruto said while silently preparing to attack at the first opportunity "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage, not a bloodline."

"You can worry about being Hokage, after you survive." Zabuza said before disappearing from view in a blur of speed. Naruto felt his instincts scream at him and he dropped to the ground as the massive sword slashed over head from behind him. Using his hands, Naruto spun over, planting a kick firmly to the man's shin and then, performing a back flip, another to his chin.

Landing smoothly, Naruto surged his chakra and leaped back as the massive blade swung around at a speed that was near invisible. Zabuza was on the offensive once more and before long Naruto was doing his damndest to avoid getting any more cuts. Still no matter how much he hurt this eyebrow less freak it didn't slow him down.

Naruto was also aware that their height and weight made a difference as well; Naruto's blows were just a tad lighter than they should be because of it. If he had been fighting anyone remotely near his own height, he should have been able to do much more serious damage. That kick to the shin, he knew, would have laid out Kiba but with Zabuza, it was little more than a tickle apparently.

Side-stepping a particularly brutal downward chop, Naruto prepared to launch a counter-attack only to catch a front kick to the solar plexus, which drove the air out of his lungs and launched him backwards. Luckily, Anko had hit him there before several times, so he learned quickly how to focus through the air and lack of air. Hence, instead of being a helpless target, he rolled with the momentum when he hit the ground and sprang to his feet, his breath already returning in sharp stabs.

Zabuza thankfully was caught up trying to avoid a sudden massive wave of bugs, Naruto felt a flash of annoyance toward Shino for interfering, but instead took the time to begin forming his Rasengan. One hand to supply the chakra, the other rapidly striking it to give it form and then looking up he fixed his gaze on his enemy who was turning to face him.

Naruto let a low growl escape as he started forward in a stumbling, but dead run, bringing his arm with the Rasengan back, his concentration at its zenith.

Zabuza waited until Naruto was within range and then twirled his massive sword over head, before bringing it down in a vicious and powerful downward chop.

It was a feat that Naruto was not conscious of doing, but suddenly, realizing he could not move fast enough to avoid the blow; he performed a Shunshin to reach inside the man's guard before he could complete the motion.

Zabuza's eyes went wide...

...Naruto appeared in a crouch, snarling as he drove his Rasengan forward into the swordsman sternum. The air filled with the sound of rushing wind, cracking bones and then a meaty tearing. Blood splattered Naruto's face as the man lifted off his feet, sword falling uselessly aside, and was sent hurtling fifty feet away into a massive tree that snapped from the impact.

Zabuza's body arched from the blow, the man stood erect for a moment and then collapsed lifelessly face first to the ground.

Naruto slowly stood up from the crouch, arm falling absently to his side. Taking a deep breath, he let it out and turned to find Shino approaching cautiously and it took Naruto a moment to force his bloodlust aside and offer a faint smile to the boy "I didn't need your help."

"That was," Shino started, uncertain, then shook his head "Kekio-chan acted on her own. She says that she thought it best to help you out since we are all on the same team."

Naruto managed a grunt said, not knowing really what to make of that. He knew that Keiko was a bug that Shino spoke with a lot, it was just something that came up among them, but this was the first time he'd heard of her having an actual personality. Well, he did suppose that if she could talk then she would have to have a personality but still. "Well, thanks Kekio-chan."

"She says you are welcome," Shino said in that monotone way of his.

"Oi, so what'd you think of that move? I can't wait to tell Ero-sennin that I used it to take down an A-rank missing-nin!" Naruto gloated, leading the way to the dead body where he began searching for items.

"It was impressive," Shino admitted "the amount of concentration had to be very high. I am also impressed that you managed to use a Shunshin in conjuncture with such a move. However, you seem far to carefree after such a battle."

"Whatever," Naruto muttered, pocketing the money on the man along with a few notes and one sealed scroll. Then after some deliberation, he took the scratched forehead protector.

"We should move to locate Ino and then return to Otafuku Gai," Shino said "By now Tsunade-sama will have spent all of our money and be preparing to leave soon."

"Right," Naruto said looking at the body before creating several Kage Bunshin.

"Naruto?"

"Even an eyebrowless freak deserves to be buried," Naruto muttered and then walked over to the massive sword, considering it. The blade had survived the Kaze no Yaiba, yes there were deep cuts on the outer edges, but for the most part it was untouched. Kneeling he produced a sealing scroll that he had left over from training with Ero-sennin along with his pen and the chakra laced ink.

A few deft movements later to mark both the scroll and weapon, and Naruto was ready. Channeling the chakra into his hand, he placed it on the scroll activating the seal. "Un'yu Fuuin Houin!" There was a pulse as the seals on the scroll and the sword glowed, then with a gentle glow, the sealing was complete and Naruto was binding the scroll carrying the sword shut.

Standing he pocketed it and grinned at Shino "Now let's go met up with Ino-chan."

* * *

Tsunade frowned, dropping her coins into the machine and yanking the arm.

The Sannin watched the wheels spin for a moment, then looked around the parlor. It was well lit, giving the décor a nice warm look, complimenting the polished wooden panels and the strikingly colorful paintings on the wall. The place was new, or at least it was new since the last time Tsunade had been through town, and packed.

Large, brightly painted machines lined every available surface along with small tables and the room was crammed with people at the machines, shouting in victory, cursing in defeat, and employing odd body language in an attempt to win. It was the kind of place that not too long ago, Tsunade would have enjoyed even if she did lose the shirt off her back -which had happened only once, when she had foolishly agreed to play strip poker with Jiraiya and Orochimaru when they were younger-.

Now though, she found it rather boring and the medic wasn't sure why. It could have been the lack of Shizune, or Tonton; maybe it was because she was now responsible for taking care of people and didn't have the energy to be selfish. Most likely, it was because she was still held the necklace and the guilt associated with it.

She hadn't been able to confront Naruto; she had been surrounded with Kage Bunshin all day after all. Nicely created and very convincing Kage Bunshin of Shino, Ino and Naruto, but Tsunade was a Sannin. She wasn't sure why Naruto would do such a thing, even to avoid her it seemed stupid to replace all of them and the only thing she could figure was they we're training.

Looking back at her machine she sighed, another loser. She checked the ryou the Kage Bunshin had given her 'for the chance to apologize for messing up', she found it gone. Just as well, the beautiful woman decided, they needed to get on the road and head to Crater City and then get back to Konoha. Getting up she started for the entrance, only to pause at the sound of someone hitting the jackpot. Eye twitching she turned to find some wrinkly old hag sitting at her machine, money pouring out into the tray.

Her first instinct was to explode and take the money, but she restrained herself seeing the old hag share a kiss with an equally wrinkled old bastard. Snorting in annoyance, the Legendary Sucker left cursing her continued bad luck. Sometimes she really did believe that if wasn't for her bad luck, she wouldn't have any luck at all.

The sun made her squint, she had spent too much time indoors gambling, but she kept walking back toward the Inn. The Kage Bunshin had promised to wait there for her, since they didn't want to ruin her fun. Tsunade figured that way the real Team Ten could change with their counterparts quickly, hopefully without letting her know they had ever been gone.

The only reason she had allowed the farce to keep going, besides blowing all of their money gambling, was the fact that she kept expecting that boy from last night and his partner to come after her. The longer those three where out of her way, the easier things would be for her to deal with when the fight happened. Sadly, neither had shown up all day and she had decided to gamble while waiting.

Clearing the gambling district she turned left and headed down the road to her Inn, the people of this city and truly been ingenious in the lay out. The gambling district and the pleasure district, surrounded the Inn's and normal shopping area. Tsunade could remember Ino's reaction when they had wandered from the weapons shop and into the pleasure area; it had been priceless to see the girls face turn bright red and her eyes to grow as big as saucers.

Shino hadn't reacted, which had made Tsunade wonder if maybe he wasn't gay. Then she considered the fact that there had been enough flesh for both male and female to enjoy, so she considered the possibility that he just wasn't interested in sex period. The most obvious answer though, was that he was an Aburame and hence showed very little reaction to much of anything, including attractive women offering him good times for discounted rates.

Reaching the Inn, Tsunade paused finding the three ninja already waiting for her. Naruto's hair had reddish tinge to it, his jacket almost in tatters; Ino stood nearby her top darkened around a tiny hole near her chest, but there was no mistaking her confident look. Only Shino appeared no different. Approaching the three, wondering what had happened because there was no way any of that was from a training session.

"Hey baba," Naruto said, his voice bright as he held up a scratched Mist forehead protector "Momochi Zabuza. A-rank missing-nin. Demon of the Mist. Member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu. Dead."

Tsunade blinked, then as the full knowledge of what he was telling her sank in she felt her eyes widen. They, these three, had killed Zabuza? The Demon of the Mist? No way, no fucking way, but the evidence seemed to support the story and she could only stare at them in silence before recovering.

"What, are you expecting a parade?"

"No," Naruto said, ignoring her biting sarcasm as he put the forehead protector up "just letting you know."

"Whatever," Tsunade mumbled, then staring at him for another moment tossed the necklace at him. He caught it of course, startled and then his eyes darkened slightly.

"What are you-"

"Shut up and listen," Tsunade said curtly, cutting him off "I'm over fifty years old. I've survived two wars, lost friends and family; some because of my _own_ mistakes. I'm not going to change my opinion about heroes or Hokage's."

"Oba-san-" Ino started to object, before Tsunade held a finger up to silence her.

"However," Tsunade said, her gaze not wavering from Naruto's "that necklace doesn't belong to me. Not anymore. It's a curse you inherited from the previous Hokage's and two heroes. For better or worse, it's yours."

"Huh?" Naruto asked blankly.

"All of them," Tsunade said, her tone growing sad "were just like you. That's why that cursed necklace belongs to you now, why it's your curse. When you die, it goes with you."

Tsunade saw the understanding in his gaze, the appreciation and she snorted pushing past them silently. The others followed and suddenly Tsunade wished she had more money and a few more hours to kill in the gambling district.

* * *

"YEAAAH! RAMEN!" Naruto cheered as they came within sight of the village gates. Ino smiled slightly, but otherwise ignored her teammate, much as Shino did. Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose and shouted for him to shut the hell up.

"Oi, why don't you shut up baba?" Naruto countered, looking at her with a bright smile, the necklace she had given him around his neck.

"What'd you call me?" Tsunade grated out, left eye twitching.

"Sorry," Naruto said mockingly "I forgot how old you were. I called you BABA!"

"RUNT!" Tsunade shouted back, smashing a fist into the ground where he had been standing a split second before "I'm going to kill you!"

"Nuyuaha," Naruto taunted, while Ino and Shino sighed off to the side, before nearly being turned into a pincushion from a hail of kunai.

"Naruto!"

Whipping around, the blood drained from his face as he spotted the fearsome woman known as Anko.

"A-anko," Naruto gulped, eyes widening.

"We need to have a little talk," Anko said sweetly, twirling a kunai around a finger "about you making this village think I would run around naked shouting that I love people."

"I-it was just a joke," Naruto said edging away from her.

"A joke?" Anko asked sweetly, too sweetly, to be safe, "you had a naked clone of me make out with Kurenai in public."

"..." Naruto suddenly bolted amid a hail of sharp deadly weapons, the insane woman known as Anko chasing after him.

* * *

**Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu**: Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist  
**Un'yu Fuuin Houin:** Transportation Sealing Method. 


	29. Chapter 28: Path of Thorns

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 28:  
-_Path of Thorns_-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

Curiosity, it was said, killed the cat.

It had been a favorite saying of the orphanage workers to caution the curious children. It worked majority of the time, except on the most curious. Uzumaki Naruto could be counted chief among them: no matter how often he got hurt, he came back even more curious.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction had brought him back.

That described Naruto perfectly, then and now. It was one of his defining traits, the reason why he could learn under Anko. His curiosity kept bringing him back to her, kept forcing him to try and figure it out until he had it. His need to know was unquenchable and this was why, instead of doing as other teens might and seek out others, he had isolated himself.

Because he was curious about the Kaze no Yaiba and his own, self created move Kamikaze no Yaiba. He had been using it for a while without really thinking about it, but after the last few hours training he had realized it was a devastating move. He wasn't sure how the ranking system worked, but he placed it as A-rank and not something to use around allies.

After that, he had tried forming a traditional sword of wind but that sadly had failed, but a spear had worked. Which had led to brief efforts of experimenting with the 'Fūton: Daitoppa' that had resulted in the creation of a brief shield of wind and a whirlwind under his feet to aide his jumps. It was amazing what he was discovering, and how much chakra he was using up, yet with each discovery he filled up just a bit more of the battered scroll he was using.

The scroll, which had been discarded by the original owner years ago, was nothing special. It was merely a scroll Naruto had retrieved in his magpie-like tendencies and the first thing he had grabbed before setting out to train. It was the reason he had the scroll that made it special: Ever since learning the Rasengan, Naruto had been thinking about family.

Hence, the scroll: Every technique he came up with, he wrote drown, all on the off-chance that he ever had a family. It was, in essence, his way of creating a heritage for any possible children, so that, if he did die, they would not be without a family history. They would have something of his and not have to suffer or struggle like he had.

Pulling the scroll into his lap and picking up the pen nearby, he paused, scanning the list of jutsu so far listed and described. Rasengan; Kage Bunshin (his version, which Jiraiya said was different than everyone else's); Sexy no jutsu, and how to do the variations; Kaze no Yaiba; Kamikaze no Yaiba; Fūton: Daitoppa; Kaze no Yari; Kaze Toku; and the few seals that he had learned from Jiraiya.

Jotting down a few minor notes on the Kaze Toku, he sighed, then looked up at the sky. It was about lunchtime, and Anko had told him that morning to make sure and be at the Hokage's office at noon. Something about an important mission Anko had arranged for him, probably as a reward for bringing back those scrolls of Zabuza's that dealt with Unity.

Shrugging, he finished his notes and then, closing the scroll, stretched before grabbing his Chūnin vest.

As happy as he was to be a Chūnin, he was not thrilled with the vest. Sadly, since his last remaining jacket had finally fallen apart after the Zabuza fight and the store that had sold them was destroyed by Unity, he was forced to improvise. One dark blue, mid-length sleeved shirt sporting a Konoha symbol, orange pants, and a Chūnin vest later, he had a new temporary outfit.

Slipping the scroll into one of the pouches of the vest, he set off at a brisk pace toward the village. Maybe if he had time, he'd see if Ino would like to get some lunch, but probably not. The girl was probably busy twirling her sword around, trying to catch up on lost training time.

Which meant Naruto would just have to bug Anko -who had finally forgiven him for his prank- or Iruka. He'd bug Shino, but the boy was already bugged enough. Chuckling at his private joke, Naruto picked up the pace, idly wondering what mission he and Anko would be handling.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino felt good, because after so much time, she was finally able to practice her kenjutsu in peace. Of course, her elbow was still a tad stiff, but the more she moved her arm, the looser it became. Turning her body, she performed a low sweep of her kodachi, then curved it back up sharply. Her body flowed from stance to stance, guided by her own unconscious rhythm.

Hayate's -now Ino's- style had no formal forms: It was created as the user moved. Spontaneous, like actual combat; unpredictable, like any life or death situation. To Ino, it felt like she was dancing to some invisible tune, and her body moved as if that was true.

Actually, if any male were present to see her form, they would have a nosebleed at some of her moves. Coming to a stop, with one last graceful slash, she twirled her kodachi and then returned it to the sheath strapped to her back. It had taken her a while to get the desired alterations, but now the sheath was hidden within the purple fabric.

Tsukiha was even better than she could have imagined. Perfectly balanced, the blade gleamed almost unnaturally, and her chakra could flow effortlessly through the metal. It wasn't a weapon so much as it was a part of her, and finally being able to wield it had made her realize that she had been missing a part of her.

Yamanaka Ino knew beyond a doubt that Kenjutsu was her future.

Smiling in self-satisfaction, she left the training field and moved back to the streets, thinking briefly of hanging out with Sakura or checking up on Shikamaru. After all, she and the shadow user had been friends when they had been growing up, but her plans were derailed by two individuals.

One was a girl her own age whose name escaped Ino at the moment, and the other was a boy younger than her. Ino knew that the girl was another fan girl. The boy was a new one, though, but she had a feeling she'd find out what he was up to in a minute, unless she fled quickly. Sadly, Ino was too slow and both reached her at the same time.

"Yamanaka Ino, right?" the girl asked cautiously.

"Yeah."

"I'm Kassei Yariman. We took the same flower arrangement course, remember?"

"Right," Ino said slowly, blinking at her name. Yariman's parents must really have hated her; as if Kassei wasn't bad enough.

"I'm Kassei Gei," the boy said excitedly.

Ino paused, stared at him, then decided that if Yariman's parents hated her, they down right loathed Gei. Kami, what kind of parents named their children that sort of thing? In compasion to those names, 'Ino' suddenly didn't seem like that bad a name.

"So, anyway," Yariman said quickly, a grin on her face. "You're on the same team as Uzumaki Naruto, right?"

"Yeah," Ino drawled cautiously, knowing that some of the fan girls could get vicious.

"You're friends, right?" Gei asked quickly.

"Yeah."

Yariman hesitated, then lowered her voice, leaning in. "Is it true that he's really... huge?"

Ino blinked, then blushed a bright red as the girl's meaning registered. Hell, Ino didn't even want to know how or where the girl had heard that. Honestly, was she trying to live up to her name? "I-I don't know."

"Never mind that," Gei interjected impatiently. "What's his favorite food? Where does he get his orange jumpsuits?"

"Err..."

"Is he a good kisser?" Yariman asked excitedly.

"I don't-"

"Can he really do the Rasengan?" Gei added hopefully.

"Err...I gues-"

"Is he dating anyone?" Yariman asked a little too forcefully to be casual.

Ino couldn't help but rub her temples, and bite back her groan of frustration. Kami, why did it have to be her? Why couldn't Shino or Anko have to deal with this sort of thing?

"Does he prefer tempered steel kunai or iron kunai?"

"Steel, duh." Ino said with a roll of her eyes "I mean, do _you_ enjoy having to resharpen every last one of your knives every single night?"

"What kind of girl does he like?"

Spotting more girls and boys hurriedly approaching, Ino actually whimpered.

* * *

It was amazing to think that such a comfy-looking chair could be so uncomfortable. Shifting slightly, the masked Hokage let out an inaudible sigh. To his right, arms crossed, was the current ANBU Commander, Tenzou. To his left, surprisingly enough, was the current leader of Root, Danzou.

Sometimes it just didn't pay to get out of bed, Kakashi mused, closing his eye.

As if he wasn't tested enough just being Hokage, Kakashi now had three difficult tasks before him. One was restraining himself from killing the -discovered just that morning- leader of Unity, Danzou. Because Root was loyal to the war hawk before all others. Konoha needed Root, and killing Danzou would result in a loss of their specialized skills.

Then there was the fact this same war hawk had managed to convince the council into pressing Kakashi -who had still yet to gain full authority- into assigning the two missions on his desk. One was a simple B-Rank mission, and the other was... Well, it was a mission Kakashi wished he could assign Anko instead of Naruto.

Sadly, the choice wasn't his, but in another week he'd be free to assign high ranked missions as _he_, not the council, saw fit. Why had the Nidaime signed that law requiring a period of limited authority after a Hokage assumed office? Hadn't the man realized that he was, for two weeks, putting the Hokage under the thumb of the politicians?

Hearing the door open, he opened his eye and focused on the woman in the brown trench coat and miniskirt, then looked at the blond in the Chūnin vest. Kakashi blinked, then reached up to rub at his eye. No, it wasn't an illusion, Naruto was actually wearing something _normal_.

Marveling at the wonders before him, he waited for the door to close and the two ninja to stop in front if his desk. Taking a breath, he beamed at them, or, more correctly, his eye curved up happily. "Afternoon!"

"Hi."

"Yo."

Kakashi chuckled to himself, then leaned forward, resting his hands on the desk. "Well, I suppose I should just get on with this, eh?" Selecting the first scroll, he tossed it to Anko, who caught it easily. "There you go, one Rank-B mission."

"Gonna have fun tonight," Anko muttered with a grin as she unsealed the scroll to check the details. "Ooooooh, this really _will_ be fun!"

"Oi, oi, so, what's the mission?"

"A high-ranking Governor named Genji Bokkai has recently been discovered selling Hi no Kuni secrets. We're not sure to whom, so the important thing is to stop the sales and find out which country is buying," Kakashi explained for the still-reading Kunoichi. "It's Rank-B because Bokkai has also enlisted the help of one Touji Mizuki. He was being held in Haiotoshi but recently disappeared. Now, however, he's acting as a bodyguard for Bokkai's courier."

"Mizuki?" Naruto repeated blankly, before growling dangerously. "I thought that bastard was dead!"

"Well, he's not, and, as a former Konoha Chūnin, he is ideally suited for the job, since he has knowledge of our patrol system. But that's not your mission," Kakashi said, before tossing him the other scroll. "This is."

"Huh?"

"Don't open the scroll just yet. I need to explain a few details first," Kakashi said hurriedly as the boy moved to open it. Standing, he moved away from his chair and stared out the window over the village. "This mission is not one I would have assigned you. However, due to your sensei's request, those of some members on the council, and a certain law before I gain total command... I am forced to assign you the mission."

"Oi, so what is it?"

"An A-Rank, solo assassination mission," Kakashi said calmly, turning back to the stunned-looking boy. "This mission is very important to Konoha and the country. While Team Anko will be taking care of Mizuki, the courier, and the buyer, we need you to take care of Bokkai."

"Wait," Naruto repeated blankly. "You want me to kill one of our people?"

"He stopped being one of 'our people,'" Kakashi said firmly without breaking eye contact, "the minute he started selling our secrets to enemy nations. He's endangering the entire country and everyone within Konoha, along with running operations that are against every moral code imaginable. He has to be neutralized."

"But why me?" Naruto asked, sounding more leery than upset.

"The why isn't important," Kakashi said firmly, forcing his voice to be level and not to glance at the ever-paranoid Danzou. "It's your mission. Do you accept or not?"

"If I don't do this..." Naruto said angrily, glaring at him. "What, I get sent to that Haiotoshi place? Or do I have to worry about someone coming to kill me?"

"Neither," Kakashi said, eye narrowing. "I promise you that, if you decide to refuse, I will not allow either to befall you. It merely means we reassign the mission and you join Anko and the others."

Naruto stiffened, then glared at the scroll in his hands. Kakashi wondered which way the boy would go, acceptance or refusal? Go with his team to stop an equally dangerous threat to Hi no Kuni or go on his own to stop the source. In the minutes it took for Naruto to stare at the scroll he was holding, Kakashi wondered which one he wanted Naruto to take.

"I'll do it," Naruto said, looking up, eyes hard.

"Very well. Dismissed," Kakashi said curtly, noting the Anko-like coldness in Naruto's tone.

Naruto nodded, then, not glancing at Anko, rounded on his heel and stormed out of the office. Anko followed, a small scowl on her face. Kakashi, however, sat back down and stared at the now- closed door, realizing that the Naruto that had just left was the same one from Fushimi.

The boy that had just left his office had been a ninja trained especially for assassinations.

Glancing at Tenzou, he noted the slight alarm on his face. Kakashi, however, turned his gaze away and to the battered red book sitting beside the white and red hat. He had just assigned a forced loyalty test on the most loyal person he had ever met.

For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to read his Icha Icha book.

* * *

Storming out of the Hokage Tower, coat billowing ominously, Mitarashi Anko paused in the street. Looking around, she frowned even more, then raised an eyebrow, wondering where the hell that runt had gotten too. A moment later, she spotted him, standing at the end of the street, leaning against a wall and glaring at the Hokage mountain.

Walking quickly, she reached his side and crossed her arms. "So."

"So."

Anko looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, disturbed by his intent gaze. She wasn't used to seeing it, but she knew that look. It was her look, right before she went off to an assassination, and, for some reason, she wasn't comfortable with it on his face.

"Why the hell do they want me to do this?" Naruto finally asked in annoyance.

"This one? Most likely it's a loyalty test," Anko supplied casually.

"A loyalty test? What the hell is that about?"

"Every Chūnin or above gets one. Part of the confirmation of rank," Anko said with a shrug. "Usually, though, they're only given _after_ some event that brings them into doubt."

"Well, why the hell are they giving _me_ one?!"

"They probably wanna make sure beyond a doubt that you're loyal 'cause you defeated that Gaara punk. Still, it's not that strange, Naruto. I've had twenty... And, Kakashi, even he had two."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked looking at her. "Why? I mean, well, yeah, stupid as it is, I get why they made you do some. Twenty is pushin' it, though. But, why him? Wasn't he, like, ANBU Commander, and now he's Hokage... He's _gotta_ be loyal!"

"First one was entirely political," Anko explained sourly, nodding for him to walk with her. "See, he's got a Sharingan, but he's not an Uchiha. Well, one of his team mates was an Uchiha, and, when he died, they gave it to him. But, the Uchiha weren't happy with that story. Called his loyalty into question."

"That's stupid,"

"Maybe," Anko allowed, picking up the pace. "But his team was made up of geniuses, the next set of Sannin, from what I remember. So, yeah, he had a loyalty test for that."

"Okay, so the other one?"

"Bit more complicated, but it involves his other teammate, Rin. She was a semi-legendary medic by the time this happened, but she was caught performing some heavily forbidden medical experiments."

"What kind?"

"No clue; at the time, I didn't care much about other people." Anko shrugged. "Anyway, Kakashi was found with her, but he claimed that he was there to stop her. Rin was arrested and made to live out the rest of her life in the maximum security level of Haiotoshi, a level that has things even Oro-sensei would be leery off. Hell, he created a few of them, too."

"Holy crap," Naruto said with a whistle. "Okay, so I can understand the reason for _that_ loyalty test."

"Yeah, it was pretty suspicious," Anko agreed, grinning. "Anyway, it's not so strange, is it?"

"No," Naruto allowed before snorting. "So, why'd you ask for Kakashi to give me this mission?"

"I didn't. Well, not this one exactly, but same thing," Anko allowed, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, I wanted to do something special for ya, since you got the promotion. So, I got you the mission, as my version of a Kakan."

"Kakan? Really?" Naruto asked startled. "Wow. Well, thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome."

"Oi, so, you wanna help me out on how to freakin' do this? I mean, we never covered assassination tactics."

"Good point. Okay, keep in mind, this is just a crash course," Anko said briskly as the moved to the roof tops. "Typically, you'll have two methods of entering a building, a door or a window. Sometimes, there's a secret passage, so you can use that, too and, they can cut out a lot of crap if you can."

"Right: door, window, secret passage."

"Exactly. Now, if you use a door, don't enter immediately. Go to the side with the handle."

"Why?"

"That's obvious; so when you open it, you can peek inside. Don't wanna get killed without checking. Now, if you use a window, be casual. Stand beside it, then see if it'll open or not. If it does, then you climb in and crouch to see if anyone heard or noticed you."

"Right!" Naruto said with a sharp nod.

"Now, those secret passages: apply everything from the windows and doors to them. Sometimes they can be traps, okay? So, there's one last way of getting in, and it's kinda cool. Basically, you have the guards open the doors for you."

"Huh? How do you I manage that?"

"Simple. Just get behind him without his noticing. Then follow him, staying out of his line of sight and not making any noise. When you're as far as you need to be, you take him out and then go on. Also keep in mind that you have to study the guards and the city itself. You can't go blindly charging around; assassinations have to be done carefully. Unless you're ordered otherwise, of course."

"Check."

"Good. Now, then, more important things to keep in mind," Anko said with a pleased grin. "Keep chakra use to a minimum, especially if you ever do this sort of mission out of country. I think you'll be fine; Bokkai shouldn't have anything more than Chūnin if any, and very few can sense careful chakra use. Stick with the basics: Water Walking and Tree climbing, Shunshin, and Meskai. They don't produce an amount of chakra that someone other than a Jōnin would notice."

"Okay, I got all that, but, oi, what do I do once I'm inside?"

"I'm getting there," Anko said, happy to see him so eager to learn. Performing a fancy flip, she landed gracefully on top of a building and turned to look at the blond at her side. "After you've checked things out in the city, come up with an escape route before going in 'cause, once you're done or something goes wrong, you're gonna wanna get outta there fast."

"Got it," Naruto said, doing his own acrobatic move. "Escape route for a fast get away."

"Anyway, once you're inside the walls, find a safe point that can't be found easily, where you can rest or regroup if you need to. After that, move on. Stay away from places like barracks or dinning halls and crap. If anyone sees you, they **have** to be taken out."

"D'uh on that last part," Naruto groused, good-naturedly.

"Yeah, well, I know you, runt..." Anko retorted with a roll of her eye, then turned serious. "Now, as for the actual assassination, you're going to have a small time-frame to do it and get out. So, no Kage Bunshin, in case you have to improvise. Also, you generally only have one shot, so go for the immediate kill and keep his mouth covered."

"Oi, immediate kill?"

"Yeah, you have several basic and fast ways to pick from," Anko explained, ticking off each kill on a finger. "My personal favorites are slitting the throat, kidney thrust, stabbing through the eye, jugular thrust, and the heart. Oh and the temple, another safe target."

Naruto was silent, gaze intent, then he looked down. "Which one would you suggest?"

"Avoid cutting his throat unless you're behind him. The blood sprays out, and the jugular is the same. The heart can be tricky, but it's a safe target. The kidney is safe, too, but it can be hard to hit if you're in a hurry. The eye is iffy if you don't remember to not angle down. The temple is good, but any moron can kill by shoving a knife through."

"But, which one do you recom-"

"Naruto, this is _your_ assassination. You pick whichever one you feel comfortable with using. Most first-timers go for the heart or the temple. Some go for the eye." Anko put a hand on his shoulder, face serious. "The important thing is this: completing the mission and coming back in one piece. Loyalty test or not, this is still your Kakan in my book. So, make me proud, neh?"

"Oi, don't worry about me, neechan," Naruto said, giving her a confident smirk. "I'm the next Hokage, remember?"

Then, before Naruto's words registered, he disappeared in a Shunshin. Blinking, Anko stood there for another minute, then smirked, shaking her head. "Yeah, tei, I remember."

* * *

Crouching in the shadows of the east gate, Aburame Shino nodded dutifully to Kekio. It was bit worrying, actually, how dominant she was becoming. The other Kikai barely spoke anymore unless he addressed them specifically. Still, Shino found that he did enjoy talking with her more than the others.

"No, Kekio-chan, I don't know where she went. Just that she went after Ino," Shino said softly, allowing his gaze to drift to the few ninja around. They were going about their normal business, completely unconcerned that he was talking to a bug. After all, he was an Aburame, and all Aburame spoke to bugs.

Shino, however, knew better. Oh, his family might talk to bugs, and the bugs might say things back, but they didn't have conversations. Shino did, with Kekio and the others; he held whole conversations about everything. He had bugs that were like his friends, and Kekio was, well, he wasn't sure, but he knew he liked her more than the others.

Spotting Anko, who was grinning, and Ino, who was scowling, Shino stood up to greet them. Ino snorted, meeting his gaze for a moment before looking away. Anko produced a carton of dango from somewhere and began munching as she stared at them.

After a moment, one of his bugs noted that she was exuding the pheromones of excitement, which, according to his family, was frighteningly close to mating pheromones. Shino noted the gleam in her eye and knew that something was going on that she approved of.

"Anko-sensei, what is it that has you so excited?"

"Wha you talc bout?" Anko mumbled through a mouth full of dango, glaring at him curiously.

"Your pheromones; my Kikaichu can smell it. They say you're excited about something," Shino explained, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh!" Anko said in understanding, a grin spreading across her face. "We got a B-Rank mission; pretty standard fare, actually. Basically, there's a Governor who's decided to sell info to our enemies."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Ino asked apprehensively.

"Trail the messenger and his bodyguard, Mizuki; find out who the buyer is, exactly. Then, neutralize them."

"Where are they headed?" Shino asked, turning toward the gates.

"They're heading sorta northeast and are about a day ahead of us. I know that with Mizuki, they can avoid most of the patrols, but I'm pretty sure they'll have to go slow till they're further out."

"Well, we'll have to get Naruto-kun," Ino said, frowning slightly.

"Nah, he's already out on a mission," Anko said waving a hand, then, seeing their looks, smirked. "He's got an A-Rank solo assassination. He got outta here about two hours ago. No time to waste and all that."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Ino shouted, eyes wide. "He's got a... But why?!"

"His Kakan," Anko supplied with a roll of her eyes. "Focus! We've got a mission, and we need to get our asses moving. So, let's go!"

Shino nodded, then, as the older woman turned and darted out of the gates, he glanced at a stunned Ino. "He will be fine; I doubt anything short of another child like Gaara could prove much trouble for him."

"I, I guess you're right, I'm just worried," Ino admitted, joining him in chasing after Anko. "I mean, this is a big mission. Solo assassination, do you really think he can do it?"

"Yes," Shino admitted without hesitation. "I believe that Naruto can destroy his heart at will. I see no reason why he would ever have trouble with taking a life."

"You're scared of him," Ino said in surprise.

"No, I am just aware. He could, at any moment, turn on us, if he decided he needed to," Shino admitted with a slight nod. "Unlike us, I believe he has that coldness within him."

"You're wrong," Ino said firmly. "Naruto-kun might have the coldness inside him, but he wouldn't turn on us so easily. We're his friends."

"You are his friend," Shino said, turning to met her gaze. "I am his team mate. I see the truth much more clearly than you can."

"You're wrong," Ino insisted heatedly. "Trust me, you're wrong."

Shino sighed, then shook his head and sped up. Sometimes, it was pointless to argue with those who willingly blinded themselves. Kakashi might have been right about emotions being an asset, but so had his father. Emotions could cloud your judgment, and Ino was a prime example.

* * *

Naruto was not the fastest ninja in the world. Even with the Shunshin he was not the fastest. That was not to say he wasn't fast, just that he wasn't _the_ fastest. Case in point, he had already covered a great deal of ground, and, according the ANBU he'd bumped into a few hours ago, he'd be at Keikyoku by midnight.

Since it was already getting close to sunset, he had decided to eat a late lunch and study the mission scroll. It listed several important items: the number of samurai Bokkai had at his command (ten thousand), the number that would be stationed at Bokkai's capital Keikyoku (two thousand), the number of expected ninja (zero), a lay out of Bokkai's castle (both inner and outer palaces, along with the trick passages and the real one), and the patrol route the samurai made and the time between patrols.

Naruto was actually a little frightened by how detailed the scroll was. His more cautious inner voice, which sounded like Anko, told him that there was no way they could gather this much information in such a short amount of time. The part of his mind that spoke like Naruto agreed with that assessment and filed away the knowledge that they were routinely gathering information on their own people.

Still, there was no information on the city itself, outside of the standard layout and a comment about only one entrance. Which meant he would have to figure out how slip through unnoticed, but that could wait till he was there. Resealing the scroll, Naruto stood and, with groan, set off once more.

Racing through the forest, knowing better than to take the road, Naruto felt his excitement growing. This was his first solo mission, it was Rank-A, and it was his Kakan. He'd never expected to have a Coming of Age ceremony, though he supposed this technically wasn't one by normal standards.

Not that Naruto cared about normal; all that mattered was that he had someone who cared enough to give him a Kakan. He also felt a gnawing sense of unease because this was not _just_ a Kakan. This was a very serious mission, with very serious results if he failed.

He had to assassinate someone he had never met, which was proving difficult to wrap his mind around. It wasn't the concept of killing; Naruto had grown used to that. It was the fact that, this time, he would be killing someone who was not actively seeking to kill him. There would be no way to hide behind 'self-defense.'

All Naruto could use to soothe his conscience, battered creature that it was, was that he trusted his orders. That this man really did have to die, now, in order to protect thousands more. So, could he actually do this? Take a life in cold blood? The answer was, without hesitation, yes. Naruto could not only kill like that; he would.

For Konoha, for Hi no Kuni, for all the people who were counting on him to ensure this man never sold another secret.

Absently, he wondered how Anko and the others were doing. They had, after all, an equally important mission. Mizuki was a pushover, no doubt, but whoever the buyer was would probably be a lot stronger.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to worry. After all, Anko was with them. Plus, it wasn't like the others were weak. He had no reason to worry about them. Actually, he felt a tad worried for whomever was unlucky enough to face his team.

Chuckling, he picked up the pace as the sun finally set completely.

* * *

Anko was not known for her patience with people, nor was she known for her understanding. So, it could be said she was doing an admirable job of faking both at the moment. Shino and Ino were trying, she kept telling herself. They weren't Naruto; they didn't have his stamina, but they were pushing themselves.

They _were_ trying. That was something.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Ino's eyes fluttering, then snap open, staving off sleep for a few more minutes. Neither had asked for a break yet, understanding the urgency of this mission. Still, it was tricky.

They had to get close enough to track them, while not giving away their presence. Hence the traveling through the night and into the beginnings of daybreak. Still, if she kept this up, they would be in no condition to finish the mission. Plus, Mizuki would know his chances of getting through the patrols with a courier would be better at night.

Silently cursing both to an early grave, she motioned for them to stop.

"What's going on?" Ino asked, her voice doubtful. "We lose them?"

"Nah, just decided we'll rest here for while," Anko said, glancing at the two. "With a civilian courier, they can't move very fast during the day with all the patrols. Since we need to know which country is buying their information, we can't risk killing them just yet."

"We could capture and interrogate," Shino supplied.

"Doubtful," Anko said lightly as she sat down. "The courier would destroy any information, and Mizuki would probably kill the man and then himself."

"But why?" Ino asked, sitting down as well, stifling a yawn.

"Once you've been in Haiotoshi, even the minimum security level, you never willingly go back," Anko explained, glancing at the silent Aburame. "Haiotoshi is the most dangerous prison in the world. Nobody sane willingly goes back a second time."

Seeing Shino finally sit, Anko settled in, knowing without words that she would remain awake as lookout. Mainly because she wasn't sleepy and partly because Anko didn't trust them quite enough to actually sleep. Producing a carton of dango, Anko began munching quietly as the two settled into sleep.

Mentally, however, she was far away.

She was in the First Region, ruled by Governor Bokkai, northwest of the Center Region of Hi no Kuni. It was where Naruto would be heading for, it's capital, Keikyoku. He might even already be at the walls of that city, setting about his first assassination mission. Part of her worried about him and wondered if maybe she should have covered assassination more throughly.

The other half, though wasn't worried at all, even with his incomplete crash course. After all, she had trained him. He had the skills for this sort of mission. Plus, he was strong; he didn't need anyone. He was the sort of ninja she approved off. Also, he had training from Jiraiya, possibly the only person Anko could tolerate to take over training Naruto.

So, forcing herself not to think any more about Naruto, Anko munched away happily on her dango.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was not used to performing a mission alone; he had no real idea how to go about things. All he had by way of guidance was the scroll from Kakashi and the ability to ask himself what Anko would do. Other than that, he was forced to rely on the lessons Anko had taught him and his own ingenuity.

The scroll, for the moment, was the most helpful thing: it had provided a city name and exact details on the amount of Samurai along with their patrol patterns, a highly detailed floor plan of both the Inner Palace and the Greater Palace, and room locations.

It had pretty much done all the hard work for him; all he had to do now was slip in and kill the bastard. Naruto, however, was not rushing in due to the fact that he had discovered that the scroll was lacking important information. Namely, the two Hi no Kuni Chūnin guarding the city's only entrance.

Sitting on the branch of a tree, well out of range, he watched them intently while eating a cup of instant ramen. Stirring his noodles absently, he wondered what Anko would do in this situation. He almost winced, knowing she would kill both Chūnin and go on her merry way.

Sighing, he lifted the noodles to his mouth, contemplating the situation. He had confidence that the scroll was accurate about the palace. After all, he doubted Kakashi would let any ninja go with faulty information. It was the surrounding city and the ninja that were bothering him.

He had no clue what was going on there, which meant it would be up to him to figure out how to get around them, create an opening, and strike.

"Attack when they're not looking," Naruto muttered, scowling at the city. But he couldn't do that unless he had more information on the city itself. He was immediately tempted to create a few hundred clones and send them out, but he remembered Anko's warning.

"Okay, so... I'll have to do this myself," Naruto said, nodding slightly as he finished his ramen. Pocketing it, he then hopped out of the tree, landing adroitly before stretching. He needed to figure out how many ninja he was dealing with.

Pulling off his flak vest, forehead protector, and weapons pouch -save for a few kunai- he hid them. Sighing, Naruto stretched once more, turning his attention back to slipping into the city itself. Following the road leading to the city, he spotted a slow moving group where several kids were hanging out.

Grinning, he performed a Shunshin. When he reached the street, he jogged up to join the group while striking up a conversation with a few of the kids. The two Chūnin obviously weren't from Konoha. Most likely, they were those state-trained ninja Tsunade had mentioned. Once past them, without even a second glance, he separated himself from the group and mixed into the crowd.

Right, so, now it was time to do as he had so many times in Konoha when he was growing up. It was time to explore, and, shoving his hands in his pockets, he set off. The city actually seemed a lot like Konoha, crowded and filled with semi-rude people as they went about their day. Here and there he could see businesses and street vendors, and over it all he could see the castle on the hill.

Shifting directions, Naruto strolled down a side street. It was semi-busy and lined with older buildings and stands. Obviously, it was the old market place. Squeezing his way through a small crowd, he bumped into someone and stumbled; recovering quickly, he looked around.

The person in question was an attractive, slightly older -maybe eighteen- blond girl with catlike eyes. He also noticed that she had an air very similar to Anko's: She was dangerous, no matter how disarming she looked. Filing her face away for future reference, he gave her a cheeky grin and continued on his way.

A few minutes later, he was on yet another side street, with almost no one around, and distracted by the sound of music drifting from a storefront. Following the music, he approached a battered looking store advertising fortune telling. Part of him surged with interest; he wouldn't mind having his fortune read.

Plus, as he gazed through the window, he could see things for sale. Maybe Anko would like something, or Ino. He hesitated, though, remembering his mission, but, after a moment, he decided that indulging wouldn't be too dangerous. Opening the door, he entered the store.

The lights flickered across the surfaces of items, creating an illusion of movement. He almost retreated as a chill swept up his back; then, chuckling at himself, he moved further inside. The walls were lined with shelves of books, and, moving closer, he wondered at the other items. Like the porcelain head that was divided into several dozen different regions, or the porcelain hand whose palm was covered in dark lines.

He knew what the crystal ball was, of course; after all, he wasn't a total idiot.

Shifting his attention away from those, he studied the books. Some of the titles he couldn't understand if he tried. Some he knew were standard fare for such a shop; after all, he was interested in the stories that featured this sort of place. His eyes drifted, then slowed to a stop as they alighted on a necklace.

It was laid out on a table, among a dozen others, and yet it was the most interesting one he could see. Two dragons, one black and one white, cleverly combined into a circle. Reaching out with his finger, he briefly skimmed the surface, then promptly screamed as a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Ahh, the Taoist symbol of dark and light, the Yin Yang."

He turned quickly, worried that anyone -other than Anko or another Jōnin, anyway- could sneak up on him. What he found was an older woman: gray-haired, slightly stooped shouldered, dressed in old fashioned priestess robes.

"Uhhh..."

"Oh, I'm sorry dear," the old woman said, offering him a pleasant smile. "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Priestess Sagi, seer and reader."

"Er..." Naruto repeated blinking "I didn't mean to, uh, you know..."

"Hmmm? Oh, no, go ahead dear," Sagi said, moving slowly around him to stare down at the necklace. "Each of these bring luck, safety, or good fortune. I have amulets for money, health, love, success, or a thousand other purposes."

"Wow."

"Yes, wow indeed," the old priestess agreed, her long finger running over the necklace he had been studying. "I even have omikuji, small pieces of paper that predict your future. However, I believe you are more inclined toward the balance."

Picking the Yin Yang necklace up, she ran a thumb over the surface before holding it out to him. "Take it dear; I fear it is beyond my ability to sell it to anyone else now."

"Huh?" Naruto repeated blankly as he stared at the necklace, mind caught in the black and white design of dragons.

"It's free," the woman explained tiredly. "The great kami and spirits of this world speak to me and say that you should receive this freely."

Not saying anything, Naruto reached out and carefully took the item; the metal was smooth and cool to his touch, soothing in a way. Then, carefully, he slipped it into a pocket. Feeling as if he was released from some spell, he gave the woman a sheepish grin. "Well, thanks..."

"Don't thank me," the woman said pleasantly, as Naruto's eyes began darting around before coming to rest on another necklace, a triangular pendant this time. Reaching out, he picked it up, reading the tiny kanji etched into the surface with a grin: good luck, friendship.

"Ah, that's a good choice my dear," Sagi said reaching out to guide him toward a so far unnoticed table. "Shall I tell your fortune while you are here?"

"Uh, sure," Naruto said, allowing himself to be guided to the table. Sitting down, he shifted awkwardly as the old woman settled in across from him and made a few hand gestures.

"You must believe. Do you believe?"

"Yeah."

Sagi paused and stared at him, then raised her hands into the air and closed her eyes. There was a hush in the room, a sudden chill sweeping over Naruto. Then, her body began to tremble before breaking out of her trance.

"Er...uh...are you okay?"

"I am fine," the old woman said in an odd voice. "Let me see your hand."

Nodding nervously, but feeling a creeping of doubt, he offered his hand up. She didn't seem any different or in contact with anything. He watched her run a long, dry finger along his palm, murmuring to herself. Glancing up at him, she raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" Naruto asked in mild impatience.

"This line represents your romantic relationships," the woman explained as she traced a series of small lines beneath his pinky. "Several lines means you'll have several short-term relationships; deep ones signify marriage. You have three: one deep, one medium, and one shallow."

"Right," Naruto managed, just barely keeping from rolling his eyes. He had no romantic relationships; hell, the closest he had was his former crush on Sakura.

"This line is your love line," Sagi continued, tracing a medium line from the edge of his hand to the middle of his palm. "It says that you can expect an easy love life."

Naruto tried not to laugh, which came out as a half snort/cough. Sagi glared at him and then jabbed at the next line with her fingernail. "The head line: The stronger, thicker, longer, and steadier that line is, the smarter and more in control you are. Yours is straight, which means you are not spontaneous or creative."

Naruto blinked, thinking about leaving this old woman to her day dreams. Obviously she was a fraud; all Naruto had to do was think about the various things she had told him. He'd have three relationships? He'd have an easy love life? He wasn't creative or spontaneous?

Pulling his hand away he stood. "Look, I gotta get going-"

"You can't leave now," Sagi said firmly, grasping his wrist tightly.

"Oi, let me go!"

"No! I'm not done with your-" Suddenly, Sagi paused, her grip tightening as her body went rigid and her eyes rolled up slowly until only the white showed. A moment later, she collapsed forward, then rose upright once more, her voice now hoarse and ancient. _"A great calamity, anarchy. A blood tide. It is coming: I see death, destruction, and despair. Uzumaki Naruto... In the end... Trapped between darkness and shadow... You will have to choose." _

"Huh?"

_"Darkness and shadow..."_ the woman repeated firmly, her hand suddenly releasing his wrist. Shaken and more than a bit thrown, Naruto hurriedly fished for his money and, leaving far more than he should, bolted from the shop.

* * *

Ino couldn't help but tap her finger nervously against her thigh, eying the surrounding forest uneasily. After setting up the second camp, having just entered Stone Country, Anko had gone on ahead to scout around, while Shino spoke with the local bug life, leaving Ino, who was over-alert, on lookout duty. Personally, Ino was more worried about Anko than some idiot who had taught her in the academy.

Ino had tried to be nice, had tried to talk with the older woman, but Anko was not easy to get along with. She seemed to view both her and Shino as dead weight, while Ino had decided Anko was just a bitch. The last several miles had seen both women antagonize each other beyond what was normally tolerated among females.

Grumbling, Ino crossed her arms and wondered why she couldn't have been put on this mission with Naruto instead of that crazy woman. At least with him, Ino knew where the boundaries were and what would push his buttons and what wouldn't. Plus, he wasn't likely to slit her throat in the middle of the night like Anko was.

Glancing a still conversing Shino, Ino considered the woman's parting words about maybe just killing them to get it over with. Her tone had been at best curt, and at worse serious. Ino didn't know Anko that well, but what she did know told her just how much stress the older woman was feeling.

Which in turn meant that Ino should back off before Anko really did kill them. A moment later, she was startled out of her thoughts as a hand covered her mouth and the edge of a kunai pressed against her throat, followed by the soft, taunting voice of Anko whispering in her ear: "Never daydream while being look out, princess; it gets you and your team killed."

Ino made a noise of understanding, muscles tight as she waited for the kunai to leave her throat, which it did a moment later, leaving her free to round on the older woman and glare. "What the hell were you thinking? I could have killed you..."

"Sure ya coulda," Anko said with a snort. "If I was some push over genin, maybe. Just remember, you suck at being lookout."

"Oh?" Ino drawled sharply, anger flashing through her. "Well, I guess since you're so busy sucking other things, I suppose it's only fair."

"Ino," Anko offered in a slightly colder voice. "I would stop now if I were you."

"If you were me," Ino said with a disdainful sniff, "my knees would be sore from all the time I spent on them."

Anko struck without warning, her hand grasping Ino's shoulder and spinning her around so that Ino's back was against her chest, her hand lifting Ino's chin and the kunai against Ino's jugular. "I'll only say this once, you snotty little bitch," Anko said, her voice dropping any hint of humanity. "You keep talking to me like that, and I'll cut off those little bumps you call tits and force feed them to you."

"H-hey-" Ino started to say, trying to pull her self free.

"No 'hey,' cunt," Anko hissed, the kunai pressing harder against her throat. "All you say is, 'Yes, Anko-sama,' and then go sit your scrawny ass down and pray I don't decided to kill you tonight."

Ino hesitated, pride screaming not say those words, to fight back. Common sense and fear, however, told her to do as ordered or end up dead. "Y-yes, Anko-sama," Ino choked out, sick and terrified at the situation she was in. A moment later, she was shoved roughly from behind, away from Anko.

Stumbling, Ino turned to stare at the disgusted- looking woman. Reaching up, she carefully touched her throat, alarmed to feel a hint of blood there. She wasn't going to die, but from the feel of it, she had a small cut.

"I've got the watch, princess," Anko said, and this time the word 'princess' came out with a note of disgust instead of the usual condescending tone.

Ino felt her pride bristle, but saw Shino calmly shake his head in silent warning. Heeding his advice and knowing that her temper had made her provoke Anko, Ino quietly slinked away from the woman and sat down against a tree. Great, just great; she had pissed off the deranged woman that Naruto idolized. Why had she even said any of those rumors?

She needed to keep her temper in check better, but Anko grated against her. There was no explanation for it, at least none that Ino could see, but Anko provoked her without even trying. Ino just didn't see why or how Naruto got along with her, because, somehow, she knew Anko had just put her on that private 'approved kill list' she was always mentioning.

Kami, she didn't know what to do.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Naruto slipped toward the mansion in silence, staying hidden within the shadows. A moment later, he used a pair of kunai to climb silently over the wall. Landing on a trench of water, careful to apply just enough chakra to keep from sinking, he darted along it in a low run.

Mentally, he reviewed the layout of the estate. He took a breath and, concentrating his chakra, applied his Meisai Gakure no Jutsu. Approaching a wall, he applied chakra to his feet and darted up the vertical surface to land in a crouch. After taking a moment to ensure that he had been unnoticed so far, he moved along the narrow wall in typical ninja style.

He paused as he spotted a samurai in the courtyard, then, seeing he was oblivious, Naruto continued on his way. Racing along, he noted a ramp leading to the upper palace, which was his second -least favorite- option of gaining entry. After several close calls, mostly due to his bad timing, he finally gained access to the compound and the secondary house of the lower area.

Slipping inside quietly, he took a moment to catch his breath and then reviewed the map he had memorized. Mostly, all he had done was find the quickest way to do this mission with the least amount of killing, hence why he had entered the house instead of trying to take the long ass route around the compound and going through the main gate.

Setting out once more, he slipped through the empty house, careful to stay near the walls to avoid creaking floorboards, then found the secret passage, a crawlspace that, according the map, led to a small storage shed in the upper palace. Hoisting himself into the hole headfirst, he pushed himself forward. He slid a considerable way down, then landed on cold, damp earth.

Standing, he gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, then seeing as best as he could -which was just good enough to tell if he was about to be attacked- he set off. He could feel his pulse quickening, a tight ball of nervousness forming in his stomach. Racing along the twisting and turning passage, he was reminded of the kumo-iki tunnels; unbidden, half-memories flashed before his eyes, but he stomped them down.

That was then; this was now.

After what felt like forever, the passage began to rise, and Naruto sped up. Five minutes later, he came to the foot of stone steps, and, careful not to make any noise, he began to climb. A hundred steps later, his head thumped softly against a trapdoor.

Pausing for a moment, remembering Anko's advice, he listened for any noise. Then, carefully, he pushed the trapdoor open and peered through the crack. He was in a room full of wooden crates and boxes: the storage shed. Naruto climbed out of the trapdoor and replaced it, noting that it blended perfectly with the dusty floor.

Moving quietly across the room, he approached the far door, on the doorknob side. Crouching, he eased it open and peered out into the night; seeing nothing, he slipped outside. The air was cool, the stars brighter, and he wondered briefly how long had he been in that tunnel.

Shrugging it off, he checked his surroundings, then his mental map. Yes, this was the right spot: four buildings and a small garden just to the north of him. Slipping quietly along the side of the white -walled buildings, heading for that garden, he tried to remember where the guard that was patrolling the area would be.

A second later, he found out as the samurai rounded the corner. Thankfully, since he had his Mesai Gakure in place, the samurai didn't see him. Freezing, he allowed the man to pass, then Naruto hurried on his way, rounding the same corner and coming to a stop just in sight of his main target.

It was heavily guarded, which wasn't surprising really, but it was going to prove problematic. The main doors had several samurai, and there were two separate patrols around the rest of the building. Frowning, Naruto performed a Shunshin, slipping a hair's breadth between the two patrols. Then, a careful jump brought him to the balcony roof just above the samurai guarding the doors.

Peering down at them, he selected a rock he had picked up before setting out for the castle and threw it at the far gate. The racket the samurai down there caused drew the samurai at the main building's entrance. Naruto grinned and, dropping to the ground, quickly slipped inside.

So far, so good, Naruto thought and then quickly pressed himself against the wall and eased forward. In the dim lighting, he spotted the expected guard with a spear, and, beyond him, a wall with a noh mask. That was the right path, as per the so far correct scroll.

Timing it carefully, he darted past the guard, reached the wall and then headed north once more. Passing through the next door, he turned left, hurried through a room full of sleeping samurai, and came to a sudden halt in the next room. While Naruto was not the sharpest of blades, he did know that even he couldn't slip unnoticed through a room full of alert samurai.

There were at least eight, maybe nine of them, all guarding the stairs he needed to reach the last floor. The scroll hadn't mentioned them. Hell, it hadn't even been hinted at them. Worse yet, Naruto could feel his concentration slipping, which meant his Meisai Gakure was close to failing.

He didn't have a choice, though: He had to get through this room. Darting into the room, he allowed his Meisai Gakure to drop just as the first samurai spotted him. The man reacted swiftly, but Naruto moved with a Shunshin, reappearing behind the man while jabbing a kunai into his kidney. Turning, he ducked another samurai's slash and came up, driving the kunai up through the man's jaw.

Feeling more than seeing an attack from behind, Naruto twisted away from the blow and, with a pivot, rounded on the man and slashed his throat as well. Coming to a stop, he turned to face the other samurai, each of whom was looking frightened, but ready for a fight to the death. Naruto couldn't help but grin and perform another Shunshin.

Reappearing before the closest samurai, he spun, kicking him across the face. Another Shunshin and he reappeared before another one, followed by breaking both knees and then the neck. Shunshin and he was in mid-air, nailing a third unprepared samurai with a spinning heel kick to the temple.

Landing, he sensed a samurai charging from the left and threw a kunai without looking, which struck between the man's eyes, and performed another Shunshin. This time, he reappeared wrapping his legs around a startled samurai's head, snapping his neck before flipping over his now tumbling body. Coming down, he slammed a foot in the last samurai's face, with a spray of blood and a sickening crunch.

A moment later, he performed a forward shoulder roll and regained his feet. Heart racing, breathing as if he had just done a light jog around his neighborhood, he turned to take in the slaughter. Blood was all over the place; the bodies looked sickening in their unnatural positions.

Naruto honestly couldn't decided whether he should feel proud that he had killed them all before they had even thought to call out a warning or sick at his actions. Grin gone, he shoved his feelings far behind his mask and then, reapplying his Meisai Gakure, darted up the stairs.

Entering the last floor, he paused. He could see a long hallway with a series of doors. The scroll listed those as belonging to the governor's consorts and wives, and the far door belonging to the target. Creeping into the hallway, he drew within a few steps of the room and then stopped, just barely hearing the noise of two people talking inside the room.

At the noise of a voice growing louder, he eased himself back. A moment later, the door opened, and a young woman in a kimono stepped out of the room. "Bonsowa-ru Bokkai-sama," the girl said softly, then, kneeling, set a tray aside and began to slide the door close.

With a split-second decision, Naruto performed a Shunshin to enter the room. Coming to a stop, he held his breath, ensuring his camouflage was still in place, then looked around the room. It was actually a very basic room, but it was definitely a governor's chamber.

Seeing that the only people present were him and the governor, who was just now laying down, he relaxed slightly. He waited for what felt like forever, then, finally satisfied that the man was asleep, he slipped a kunai from where he had it strapped and crept forward.

Coming to a stop beside the futon, he flipped the kunai around, then stared down at the older man, his pot belly and his large nose. He was here; he'd pulled it off. Slipped passed who knew how many samurai, at least two Chūnin, slipped into a highly secure room, and was now crouched over the bed of a traitor.

The Governor snorted in his sleep, then rolled onto his back and smacked his lips, murmuring a name.

Naruto allowed his Meisai Gakure to drop once more and reached out, covering the man's mouth. Bokkai's eyes snapped opened in a panic, but it was too late: Naruto had driven his kunai into the man's jugular. There was a spasm as Bokkai jerked, a spray and gargle of blood, and then the man was still, eyes glassy.

Naruto waited another minute to ensure his death, then silently removed the kunai and wiped it emotionlessly on the body's blanket. Blade clean, he placed it back in its holding place, then reapplied his Meisai Gakure. Turning, he hurriedly slid the door open, then closed it behind him.

Mission complete.

* * *

Nii Yugito reclined comfortably in the hot water of her bath, dozing as a cat might. The heat had long since seeped into her taut muscles, coaxing her toward a deeper sleep. She might indeed have slept through the night in the bath, save that she kept being pulled back every so often by a sudden flare of chakra.

Or, at least, she dreamily thought it was chakra, because whenever she focused on it she felt nothing.

Yawning, she came out of her nap and stretched, luxuriating in the sensation. Sitting up completely, she looked around with a slight frown; that had definitely been chakra, and the largest spike yet. Muttering to herself, the Kumo Jōnin climbed out of the bath and slipped a cotton robe over her athletic frame.

Leaving the steam filled room, she stepped into the cooler dressing area and paused, feeling another spike of chakra. Eyes narrowing, she quietly shed her robe and pulled on her pants, then rewrapped her arms in gauze before pulling on her shirt with the built in Dô Maru -specially designed by her village to withstand and absorb most jutsu- then quickly retied her long blonde hair back into her signature ponytail.

Finished with that, she grabbed her fingerless gloves and Cloud forehead protector, while marching out the door.

Stopping, she glanced around the village, then at the castle a short walk away from the inn where Bokkai had insisted she stay. Catlike eyes narrowing once more, she headed that way, wondering why she no longer felt any spikes of chakra. Reaching the gate, she was confronted, of course, by samurai.

"Ahah, Nii-sama... What are you doing back here so late?" the one on the left asked, sounding uneasy.

"I felt someone using chakra," Yugito explained, pocketing her lightning forehead protector. After all, these idiots thought she was from Konoha, like Bokkai had told them.

"Well, Reisen-san did just come in a few minutes ago to check up on things," the samurai explained with a shrug. "Maybe he was using chakra?"

"I don't think-" Yugito started to argue, until she was cut off by the alarm bell. Looking up sharply, she felt a chill sweep through her. "If you'll excuse me, captain."

She forced her way past the startled samurai. The lower palace was full of samurai running around in confusion. Weaving her way easily through them, she reached the upper palace and was unsurprised to find a much more military reaction. These samurai had a hard, vicious look about them, and, even though they knew her, they watched her intently.

Entering the main building, she was greeted with even more intent samurai, some with murder in their eyes. Moving swiftly, she passed patrols that were searching the rooms throughly, then reached the room that connected the second floor to the first. What she found suddenly made it clear why the samurai up here were covered with so much deadly intent.

Blood soaked the floor and walls, the source of which were the nine dead samurai littering the floor in various unnatural positions. Whoever had taken them out had done so quickly and silently, judging by the fact that they were all clumped together, which told Yugito that they had been using Shunshin. So that was the flickering chakra she had felt.

Frowning, she navigated the bodies and approached the stairs, where she found a local Chūnin she vaguely remembered being named Ginga, pinned to the wall by a kunai through the throat. That was vicious, cold blooded; it reminded her of the stories about that Anko woman. Whoever had done this had been a killer, pure and simple.

Continuing on, she reached the second floor, where she found the consorts and wives weeping openly and the far door flung open. Moving past the women, she entered the room and found Reisen kneeling over the body of Bokkai, his face stony. "Where the hell were you?"

Yugito ignored his question and moved to the other side of the bed, kneeling. A jugular stab while the man was still in bed. A cold blooded killer and an experienced assassin; could it have been that Anko? Reaching out to cover his eyes with her hand, Yugito's wrist was grabbed by the last Chūnin.

"I said, where were you, _Nii-sama_?" Reisen sneered.

Looking up, Yugito met his gaze calmly. Then, lifting her other hand, she extended a finger and touched his lips. "Sssh," within the space of a few seconds, his lips turned black, flesh turned chalk white, and he collapsed, dead. Turning back to the only body that mattered, she sighed.

Closing her eyes, Yugito concentrated on tapping just a fraction of the Nekomata's power. Her Shikyo Joukei was one of only two reasons she was given the Jōnin rank. The other was her Onijutsu Shikyo Tacchi, which belonged exclusively to her as the Jinchūriki of the Nekomata.

Feeling the tainted chakra flow into her hand, she activated the bijuu aided ability of Shikyo Joukei, replaying the last few minutes of the man's life. It came slowly, black and white, jumpy and scratchy, but it played out before her. His last kiss, then his falling asleep, then his eyes snapping open. Here things became blurry, but she paused at the darkened image of his attacker.

Dark chakra concentrated, forcing the image to clear for her, burning out the body's optic nerves. A minute later, Yugito had the image of the assassin, and a jolt ran through her: she knew him. He had been the kid that had bumped into her in the village earlier that day. She had marked him off as nothing more than some random kid, at most from a local martial arts school, but he had been a trained assassin.

Breaking the connection, she hissed in frustration and stood. Not only had he gotten past the Chūnin guarding the gates and through who knew how many samurai, he had gotten past _her_. She had told her superiors that she could handle this mission, that she could get Bokkai back to them safely. She knew how important a defected Hi no Kuni Governor as powerful as Bokkai could have been for Lightning.

She had failed.

Then another part of her mind spoke up, and it said firmly that this boy must die. He had to pay for this atrocity, needed to pay because she was a Jōnin, and she would do anything prove she deserved that rank. That even though all she had was her 'Onijutsu' and the basics from the academy, she deserved to be treated equal to any other Jōnin.

Eyes narrowed, the young woman nodded and then forcefully marched out of the room. She knew the quickest and most secure path away from the castle; that would be where this boy was heading.

* * *

Naruto knew he was being chased. How he knew that, he wasn't entirely sure. All he knew was that he had someone chasing him, and they weren't about to back off. Ten minutes ago, he had cleared the village, retrieved his various hidden items, and set out for Konoha. Somewhere along the way, he had picked someone up, and they weren't backing off.

Swearing to himself, he channeled chakra into his legs and put on a burst of speed, weaving his way through the forest he had darted into. The faster he went, the harder it became to keep up with the trees and roots. He could hear the soft sound of branches swaying, the stray sound of leaves rustling behind him.

Glancing over his shoulder, he frowned at the silhouette of his pursuer, then, cursing, performed a series of Shunshins, trying to gain ground. It seemed futile, however; whoever it was behind him was fast enough to keep up with him. It looked like his only option would be to stand and fight.

Then, as he came to that decision, he was forced to leap backward to avoid an exploding kunai as it whistled from behind him and crashed into the tree in front. Landing, he dodged to the left, just as his enemy sped past him.

As the dirt and smoke cleared, he discovered his attacker.

She was lithe, with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and blue cat-like eyes. Her shirt was made up of the upper part of a black shirt and some sort of flexible white armor that was wrapped around her torso. He noted the bandages that wound their way up her exposed arms and the fingerless gloves.

For some reason, he knew instinctively that, unlike Ino, who wore them for fashion, there was a reason for this woman to be wearing those bandages.

Shifting his weight silently, Naruto wondered what was going on and where she was from. Her forehead protector sported what looked like clouds, and, while he knew that meant she was from a foreign village, he couldn't guess which. Talk about annoying; he wasn't even sure what the hell to expect now.

"Oi, who the hell are you?"

"Nii Yugito," the woman said curtly, crouching slightly. "I'm the third strongest shinobi in Kumo."

"Er... Wait a minute, you were that girl!" Naruto said, in surprise. So, he had been right: She was more than she appeared.

"Yes, and you're the poor bastard that I have to kill now," Yugito hissed, pouncing with catlike grace and speed. Swearing, Naruto began forming the Rasengan, then ducked as her hand made a swipe at his face, slamming the incomplete sphere of chakra into her stomach. The result was still impressive.

There was a loud crack from her armor and then she was forced off her feet and sent spinning back into the tree. There was another cracking noise, and she slumped to the ground in a heap, which left Naruto blinking in surprise.

Damn that was pretty badass to see.

Walking toward her slowly, he cautiously stopped just out of her reach. He wasn't that trusting, after all; sparring with Anko had taught him a lot. A moment later, he moved back as she surged up from the ground, her catlike eyes glowing a dark purplish-black.

A moment later, her hand wrapped around his wrist and yanked him into the air, before slamming him back into the ground. His body felt like it was dying: like he was going numb and cold at the same time. As Yugito lifted him once more, he weakly tried to lift his head, but his vision was blurring.

She looked so odd now, but if he focused, he could make her out clear as day. Relaxing her hand, Yugito dropped the now limp body to the ground.

"You're a Chūnin?! Why'd they send a Chūnin? I mean, I know Konoha might be a bit strained after that Chūnin Exam fiacso and the Uchiha incident... But a Chūnin?"

Coughing, Naruto felt his body recovering, and he slowly rolled over onto his hands and knees, then pushed himself upright.

"How..." Yugito murmured, taking an instinctive step back.

"They sent me," Naruto managed in a slightly strangled voice, then looked at her, surprised at how clear and sharp she appeared, "because I'm the future Hokage..."

"Who the hell are you?" Yugito asked, staring him.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**AN: **

**Before you ask, a full explanation of Onijutsu is coming next chapter.**

**Dô Maru:** A type of cuirass, or body armor, that has no hinges and opens under the right arm.

**Shikyo Tacchi:** Death Touch

**Shikyo Joukei:** Death Sight

**Kakan** _(also called Genpukuj, Mogi for girls)_: A historical Japanese coming-of-age ceremony given between the ages of 12 and 16, often resulting in the child earning an Adult name and other changes. It was later replaced by seijin shiki which is for both sexes, but the over all result is still the same: you are now a legal adult (with all that entails).

It won't come up again until the sequels 'Naruto: Time Skip' and 'Naruto: Shinobi Wars' but the Kakan occures at different ages for different Hidden Villages. Below is a quick reference of ages for the Major Hidden Villages (yes, Anko gave Naruto his early so by Konoha law he's not legal):

Kiri (Mist): 12  
Kumo (Cloud): 13  
Iwa (Rock): 15  
Konoha (Leaf): 15  
Suna (Sand): 14


	30. Chapter 29: Individual Growth

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 29:  
_-Individual Growth-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

Anko came out of her nap sharply, eyes searching her surroundings. According to her Kage Bunshin stationed at the village, there were two Jōnin headed to the forest. She'd expected Mizuki and the courier to try and slip out unnoticed, not for the buyers to appear out of nowhere.

Shifting slightly before climbing to her feet, Anko stretched, startling both Ino and Shino. "Aha, it's a wonderful day for an ambush, ain't it?"

"Huh?" Ino asked, blinking, but staying carefully out of reach.

Anko grinned at the girl, pleased at the unease Ino was displaying. To think all it had taken were some playful threats to teach the girl to watch her mouth. Walking over to the small fire, Anko crossed her arms and stared thoughtfully at the flames. "We have two Jōnin-level ninja headed for us, most likely the buyers. Which means we've got a serious problem: How, exactly we were discovered, and why they are heading this way?"

"What about the courier and his escort?" Shino asked calmly as he turned his attention to her.

"That's part of the problem," Anko allowed with a frown. "If they knew about us, why not try and escape? Or, why didn't the two Jōnin think to do that? Why come for us, and how can they know where we are?"

"Perhaps Mizuki noticed us and informed the ninja," Shino offered. "These two then decided to 'neutralize' us in a preemptive strike and save themselves future trouble."

"A strong possibility," Anko agreed with a slight nod. "Of course, these two could have killed Mizuki and the courier for being trailed and are coming here to 'show that Konoha ninja aren't anything.'"

"Maybe," Ino said softly, poking the fire with a stick, "they killed Mizuki and the other guy, took the information, and are heading this direction because it's the most direct route into Konoha?"

"I fail to see why they would wish to enter Hi no Kuni at the moment," Shino offered. "It would make more sense to return directly to your home country to deliver the information."

"Ah, but how can you be sure that info is good," Anko said, smirking at Shino, "unless you test it? I think Ino might be right: They're heading to Hi no Kuni to test the info they've gained."

"Then, what of Mizuki and the Courier?"

"Mizuki isn't stupid," Anko said, then paused, chuckling. "Well, not entirely; after all, you don't make Chūnin by being an idiot. He knows that you _never_ give all your information up at once: You keep something, just in case."

"So, what do we do?" Ino asked, looking up at her with a glint of determination.

"I'll stay to cut off the two Jōnin. Can't let either one reach Hi no Kuni; even a little information is a dangerous thing. But, I'll need help," Anko offered with a dark smile. "A sacrificial pig so to speak..."

"What was that?" Ino said sharply springing to her feet.

"Just an expression," Anko offered rolling her eyes. "Look, I can fight both Jōnin, but at least one would break off and either follow you back to the village or go on to test the info."

"In which case, we lose them," Shino said. "So, either myself or Ino must remain to help you keep the second Jōnin occupied, while whoever does not stay enters the village and subdues Mizuki and the courier."

"Close," Anko said with a slight nod. "Mizuki's too much of a risk; he'll have to be killed. The courier is the only one to be subdued."

"Okay," Ino said with a scowl. "So, like, who goes, and who stays?"

"That's between you two. Just remember: Whoever stays will most likely die," Anko said, then, watching the two turn to talk among themselves, crouched down to enjoy her dango and study the flames. Contemplating the brightening sky -the sun would be rising soon- she wondered how Naruto was doing.

By all rights, he should have completed his mission and possibly even started his return trip to Konoha.

"Anko-sensei," Shino said, glancing at a frowning Ino. "We feel that it would be best for me to go for the village. With the help of my Kikaichu, I can easily handle Mizuki and the courier. Also, between myself and Ino, I am the least likely to be noticed entering the village."

"Logical, well reasoned," Anko said, nodding thoughtfully. "Aright, get going. I'll keep the Jōnin busy here, but don't waste time, kay?"

"What about me, though?" Ino asked angrily. "I'm not going to just sit on the sidelines."

"Don't worry," Anko said with an unpleasant smile. "I'm sure one of the Jōnin has a thing for young Konoha girls. Foreign ninja always do."

* * *

Nii Yugito had earned her rank through a combination of sleek, though basic, taijutsu; ninjutsu; and her onijutsu, 'Shikyo Tacchi'. She had, until this point, been the victor of every fight she had been in. The biggest trump she had was that her lightest touch could kill anyone in an instant, a death touch that she could not control.

Yet this 'Uzumaki Naruto', as strange as it seemed, was immune to her touch.

Yugito had panicked for a moment -nobody had ever been immune to her touch- then she had realized the two possibilities. One, the least likely considering Konoha, was that he was Jinchūriki with the onijutsu of resurrection. The second and most likely was the fact that he had some unusual bloodline limit for healing.

Nimbly dodging another wind spear, which she had never encountered before now, she brought her hands together for a basic lightning ninjutsu and created a powerful clap of thunder. Naruto reacted by covering his ears, prompting Yugito to rush in once more. Her round kick connected with his stomach, her butterfly round kick his shoulder, and the boy was left wide open her for her flurry of punches and spear hands.

The Chūnin went down hard, but regained his feet with a simple shoulder roll.

Yelling in frustration, Yugito threw a wild punch, and Naruto ducked under it. For a split second, he was visible, then he flickered from view before reappearing with a round kick in mid-attack. Yugito managed to block the kick, but before she could counter, he planted a sidekick in her ribs.

Yugito went with the force of the blow and spun, slamming a spinning heel kick across Naruto's face. The younger ninja crashed to the ground in a spray of blood, rolled to his feet once more, and turned, firing several kunai at her. Weaving her way through the hail of weapons, Yugito snagged the handle of one and spun her blade, scraping against the one he had aimed for her ribs.

Panting, both ninja froze, then, kunai scraping once more, they leapt away from each other and landed lightly.

"... Are you done flirting now?" Yugito snapped, twirling her kunai around a finger as she stared at the surprised looking boy.

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on," Yugito said with a snort. "I'm a freakin' Jōnin, runt; you think I couldn't tell you were just playing around?"

"Well," Naruto said, smiling faintly, "I was sorta hopin'..."

"Mhmm. Here's a hint: try bleeding some killing intent into your attacks if you wanna fake someone out," Yugito blandly suggested before snapping her kunai into an upright position and gesturing for him to attack. "Now, let's stop with the foreplay and get to the good stuff."

"If you want," Naruto shot back, charging at her recklessly. Yugito began to counter, when she suddenly felt a spike of killer intent and dodged just as a few dozen kunai rained down from all around her. Landing, she felt her eyes widen as countless Kage Bunshin charged from all directions.

Oh, he _was_ good.

Yugito became a blur of motion as she fought against the Kage Bunshin, her touch doing the job that it was unable to do against the original. Still, it seemed like a never ending wave as Naruto after Naruto attacked. Sidestepping one, she slammed a backfist into his face, spinning him.

Almost at the same time, one of her feet came up and then down, hard, into another's knee, cracking it. Both disappeared in a puff of smoke, even as another came hurtling through the drifting smoke. Grabbing his jacket on instinct, she cursed, seeing the exploding note, and threw him at a group of approaching Kage Bunshin.

The explosion freed her to deal with another one grabbing her throat. Yugito threw an arm up, knocking his hand away, and, a second later, she had slammed her kunai into his stomach. A simple sidekick sent another Kage Bunshin crashing into a tree, followed by a knife hand to the neck one on her right.

Panting, she whipped around in time to duck under a punch, only to recieive a knee to her face, followed by a punch. Stumbling, Yugito shook her head to clear it and swear, lashed out with her kunai, only to have Naruto disappear, then reappear in a mid-air attack.

Crossing her arms, she blocked the downward punch, which the boy used to flip over her and slam a sidekick into the small of her back. Stumbling, Yugito spun, slamming a palm heel into his nose, which resulted in a puff of smoke. Growing and frustrated, Yugito gathered the needed chakra and crashed her hands together, which resulted in a flash of lightening spearing from her and destroying the remaining Kage Bunshin.

The real one swore and then charged, forming a seal as he did. A second later, Yugito was blown off her feet by a massive gust of wind, and she slammed painfully into a tree. Gasping, she winced, then, sensing his next attack, shot her hand out, catching his punch.

"Now, this," she said, meeting the boy's startled gaze as she grinned, "is more like it." Then, before he could comment, she backhanded him, sending him staggering away. Naruto righted himself and, grinning as well, charged back in. Yugito countered with a twist kick to his ribs, followed by a sidekick.

Muscles coiling, Yugito lunged for the wounded ninja, only to have him disappear in a Shunshin. Skidding to a halt, Yugito felt a moment of confusion before she registered him appearing behind her. A moment later, she felt her ponytail go taut as the boy grabbed it and then jumped.

"What the-OWHAASFAHS!" Yugito screamed as she was literally pulled into the air and then, with blinding pain, was flipped by her ponytail and sent hurtling back to the ground. She managed to twist in the air and land on her hands and feet, hissing in rage.

The second Naruto landed, Yugito pounced, unconsciously tapping into the Nekomata's chakra.

Her now enhanced eyes registered his brief flash of surprise, her ear picked up the sound of his heart beat doubling and then her hand plunged into his lung. Pulling him close with her other hand, she grinned, revealing in the wonderful feeling of his blood coating her fingers and claws. He clutched at her shirt tightly, his fingers surprisingly strong even in death, his eyes fixed on her face.

Yugito grinned and gave him a mocking kiss before, with a wet plop, she pulled her hand free and tossed him aside. Satisfied that she had well and truly killed him this time, she turned away, only to pause.

The air was suddenly hot and filled with an oppressive presence.

Turning back slowly, she felt her eyes widen as she found the boy climbing back to his feet once more, tendrils of orangish-red chakra coiling and twisting around him. Her enhanced eyes darted to the wound she had inflicted, and she felt her mouth go dry as it healed with frightening speed. Looking up, she found his whisker marks thick and dark, his hair bushier, and his eyes slitted and glowing red.

_Not a bloodline..._

Yugito couldn't help but bear her fangs in displeasure as she saw his face, Naruto was snarling at her, but it looked very much like a disturbed smile.

_...a Jinch__ūriki._

A heart beat later, both bijuu-enhanced ninja charged each other.

* * *

"Remember," Anko's voice hissed in Ino's ear through the radio, "don't act until I give the signal."

"I'm not stupid," Ino hissed back angrily, trying to keep from rustling the bushes she was hidden in. The plan, which Anko had devised shortly after Shino had left, was simple enough. Namely, Ino hid and, after Anko had engaged the two Jōnin, the Kenjutsu user was to spring out and kill one.

The only problem with this plan that Ino could see, was the fact that it counted on her actually managing to kill a Jōnin. A Chūnin, Ino felt, she should be able to manage. A Jōnin seemed... Impossible; that was a good word. An accurate word. Maybe if she was Naruto or Sasuke it wouldn't be, but Ino had no faith in her ability to actually kill a Jōnin.

Twenty or so minutes later, she was forced to set her thoughts on the impossibility of her task aside.

First to arrive in the clearing was a young woman, maybe a year or so older than Ino, with black hair, and dressed in an odd combo of navy pants and a sleeveless black and white shirt. She was soon joined by a young man. He had the same kind of attractiveness as Sasuke, dressed in the same type of outfit as the girl.

"Oh, oh, so it's Aoi, eh?" Anko said, sounding amused as she emerged from the trees, munching on her dango.

"Ah! It's Anko-chan!" the female Jōnin said excitedly. "Aoi-san, it's Anko-chan!"

"I can see that, Sora," the young man named Aoi said, a tiny smile on his lips as he causally removed the hilt that was hanging from his waist. "So, Anko-sempai, is there a reason you're so far from home?"

"Hmm? Oh, no," Anko said casually, flicking the finished dango stick away. "I heard that Stone Country had great dango. Killing you two is just icing on my dango."

"Anko-chan, don't you remember me?" Sora said, sounding slightly hurt.

"Hmm," Anko said, blinking then snapped her fingers. "Aha,! You're that girl... from the Chūnin exams a few years ago. So, you've made Jōnin?"

"Yep! Just got the promotion," Sora said happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "So, so, this is my first Jōnin mission, too! So, what are you doing out here?"

"Like I said," Anko returned with a grin and producing a kunai, "dango. But, it's nice to see that you've managed to get over that whole 'I'm a girl, I'm only supposed to be a sex object' concept you had."

"Thanks!" Sora beamed back happily. "It's only 'cause of your test, though, that I figured that out! So, I owe you a lot, Anko-chan!"

"Well, let's get started, shall we?" Anko said, shifting her weight slightly to start the fight.

"... Just a minute," Aoi said, the hilt of his sword blazing to life with yellow lightening. "Let me invite our party crasher, okay?"

Ino blinked, then, realizing what he meant, moved a split second before he lunged to her hiding spot and slashed both a tree and the bushes in half. Rolling to a stop, Ino regained her feet and turned, pulling her own sword. The man smirked, shifting his attention from her to Anko and then back. "Ah, must be getting old, Anko, if you gotta rely on cheap tricks like that."

"Aoi," Anko chirped happily, "I'm going to slice your skin off in strips one at a time, letting you die only after hours of excruciating pain."

"Nice mental image," Sora whistled in amazement "I'm impressed Anko-chan."

Ino nodded mutely, feeling slightly sick at the image she had just painted. Plus, that killer intent was so strong that even Ino could feel it. Aoi even looked slightly panicked, which wasn't surprising, since Naruto was the only one she could see being unfazed.

"So, so, can I fight Anko-chan?" Sora asked anxiously, like a little child begging. "Please, Aoi-san? I really want to fight her, and..."

"You can have her," Aoi said, eyes glinting malevolently as he stared at Ino. "I prefer blondes anyway."

Tensing, Ino shifted her weight to rest on her back foot while the tip of her sword rose to aim between his eyes. Whatever doubts she had, they couldn't exist now: She had to fight, and she had to win. Aoi seemed to grin at her, then lunged forward with unbelievable speed, with several powerful slashes.

Ino ducked and dodged as best the could, unprepared for the speed of his assault, leaping back she channeled the chakra along her blade, and landing, drove it into the ground. The earth rumbled, then exploded, forcing Aoi to jump. The Jōnin used part of the flying debris to change directions, and Ino just barely managed to dodge as he slashed a tree behind her down the middle.

Skidding to a halt, Ino felt her eyes widen in surprise, realizing just how effortlessly he had done that.

"My, my, you're fast... And using such an advanced kenjutsu style," Aoi said as he stood, the sword crackling as he lifted it horizontally before his face. "It's nothing, though, before Raijin-ken."

"What the hell kind of sword is that?" Ino panted, eyeing both it and him warily.

"The ultimate weapon: It was the weapon of the Nidaime Hokage. This lightening blade can cut through _anything_, before it, nothing can stand. Not even your new Godaime's pathetically famed Raikiri or the Yondaime's wretched Rasengan."

Tightening her grip, Ino narrowed her eyes. Her fear was now supplanted with something different, righteous fury. Aoi had stolen from her family, insulted the Hokage, and insulted Naruto's dad.

With a scream, Ino darted forward, her sword sweeping to the side then around, the fury of her assault forcing him to dodge back in surprise. Aoi recovered quickly, and, ducking her next slash at his face, made a thrust at her stomach. Ino, realizing the danger, threw her body to the side, even as a flare of pain flashed through her.

Ino's shoulder and back hit the ground, but she adjusted her body through a flare of pain to regain her feet smoothly. Panting, her hand instinctively moved to her left side, where her fingers grew slick with what she knew instinctively to be blood. Wincing, she moved her hand back to the hilt of her kodachi and stared at the man, who looked mildly impressed.

"You _are_ a nimble one, aren't you?" Aoi said, shifting his weapon around into a new position. "You managed to dodge, in that split second, just enough to avoid an instantly fatal blow... Let's see if you can do it again."

* * *

Touji Mizuki had, upon escaping Haiotoshi, known his choices were limited. How could he not, after escaping from that hell. Having already betrayed Konoha once, he had very few options. Being the bodyguard for Bokkai's courier had been the top choice: it had offered him a chance at possibly joining another village.

Mizuki was not stupid; he knew he was not the strongest of ninja. Oh, true, he had the potential to be great, and he had been overlooked, but he held no delusions. A moderately strong Chūnin had no hope of a village taking him in, at least without something of value.

Still, all things considered, he was beginning to doubt his chances.

When he had learned exactly who the buyers were, he knew how unlikely it was for him to live much longer. Lightning ninja never accepted missing-nins; even when he had seen Aoi again, he had known better than to hope. Still, he had a chance. It was slim, but it was his. Aoi was actualy much weaker than him; it was only because of the sword he wielded that he was granted a Jōnin rank and allowed into Lightning.

If Mizuki killed him and took the Raijin-ken, he would stand a decent chance of living through this situation.

So, while the two Lightning Jōnin checked that the offered information was good, Mizuki sat watching the whiny courier and planning. When would be the best time to strike? How should he do it? That Jōnin, the girl, she was a wild card. Would she protect Aoi or let him die?

Mizuki was patient; he waited for the perfect moment and then struck. It was one of his favorite lessons to teach in the academy, that sometimes the strongest didn't win, but the most patient. The most cunning, the one who could hold back until the perfect moment.

Glaring at the courier, who was busy chewing on a pencil, Mizuki wondered at how foolish Bokkai was. This man had given up nearly every piece of information with little prompting. If Bokkai was planning to defect, he should have known better than select such a courier. Indeed, it had only been due to Mizuki that they had anything left to bargain with, anything to entice Aoi to let his guard down long enough for Mizuki to kill him.

"Ugh, I thought you said this place didn't have bugs."

Looking around once more, Mizuki raised and eyebrow, watching the man swat at his arm. Shifting his attention to the door, then the window, he sprang to his feet, realizing what was happening. "Kaikaichu!"

"Kaikaichu?" the courier asked, sounding confused.

"Yea, special bugs that live inside a member of the Aburame clan," Mizuki explained, shifting his stance slightly. "Usually they strike well before you see them. This one is warning us... Which means... Shino?"

"Mizuki-sensei," the Aburame in question said from overhead.

"So, I take it you got promoted, eh?" Mizuki said, without looking up. He wasn't surprised; Shino had been a very talented student and one of the top graduates. Of course he would have been promoted, and only Chūnin or above were sent on this sort of mission.

"You were supposed to protect me!" the courier shouted, bolting for the door.

"Fool," Mizuki muttered as the man was suddenly tripped and subdued by a swarm of bugs. Finally looking up, he prepared himself for the coming fight. "You know, the person I work for could always use another ninja."

"Govenor Bokkai," Shino said, "is most likely dead by now."

Mizuki felt his mouth go dry. Shino was not known for lying. To make things more difficult, all of the tells you could usually use to discover a lie were denied to Mizuki. Shino did not show emotion, his eyes were hidden, and his body language muted by that jacket.

"Can I ask who it was?"

"Naruto," Shino said. "He has become a very efficient and dependable ninja."

Mizuki blinked, his memory flashing back to that night in the forest, that humiliating fight. That Naruto, that loser? He was now on such a level? Impossible, but... Shino didn't seem as if he was lying. Opening his mouth to say something, he instead dodged the first attack of Kaikichu.

They spear of bugs scattered against the floor, and Mizuki hurled a series of sebon needles at the boy overhead. Naturally, the needles were absorbed by a wall of bugs, but that was Mizuki's plan. Turning, he abandoned the courier and jumped through the window.

Landing on the street adroitly, he took off. After all, you never fought an Aburame within an enclosed space: with those bugs, they could control the area. Halfway down the street, he heard the sound of Shino giving chase and grinned, leaving behind a bunshin and an exploding note.

A few moments later, Mizuki heard the satisfying noise of the explosion and he felt a tad disappointed. It had been such a simple trick. Shino should have been able to avoid it. Then, sensing an attack from the left, he dodged, watching as a spear made of bugs passed through the space he had just occupied.

"You've improved," Mizuki said, glancing at the boy on the left before narrowing his eyes as another Shino appeared on the right. "A lot..."

Slipping a kunai from his sleeve, he brandished it expertly as he darted torward the one of the right,. Ducking under a punch, he lunged, driving the blade into his stomach. Almost instantly, the Shino he had struck exploded into a swarm of bugs, and he spun, just in time to avoid the other Shino's attack.

Darting left, then right to avoid two more punches, Mizuki sprang forward, shoving an arm aside to drive his blade home in the boy's chest.

"I thought I taught you to never pick a fight with a stronger fighter." Mizuki lectured with a vicious smirk as the boy clutched at his wrist. His smirk faded, however, as Shino opened his mouth and emitted a swarm of Kaikichu directly at him.

Desperate, the older Chūnin tried to yank his arm free, but discovered it was now trapped within the grasp of an even larger horde of bugs.

No, it couldn't be. It couldn't!

Mizuki's last thoughts as the bugs swarmed over him and down into his lungs, was just how impossible it was for someone as strong as him to be outsmarted with nothing more than a series of Bunshin made of bugs.

* * *

The fight was out of control, past out of control.

Flashes of blackish-purple and orangish-red chakra.

The air filled with a malevolent evil and cold intelligence.

They had both long since abandoned they're jutsu, all that existed was the physical. Naruto could feel himself loosing control; he felt it both inside and outside of his body. Both in control and out of control of himself. Batting away a kick, he retaliated with a punch, only to receive a sidekick to the ribs. Roaring in anger, Naruto recovered and lunged, claw-like fingers plunging for the girl's chest.

Yugito batted his arms aside and grasped his throat, her own claw-like fingers piercing his flesh. Naruto lashed out instinctively, searing her cheek with his claws, and she dropped him. Landing, Naruto spun, taking her legs out with a sweep before dropping an ax kick into her stomach.

Yugito quickly recovered and scrambled to her feet, but Naruto beat her there and brought his foot up into her face with a spray of blood. Stunned though she was, it didn't stop her from latching a hand onto his leg and slinging him around into a tree.

Naruto managed to regain his feet, but Yugito had apparently recovered and was now seemingly in a berserker rage. Naruto threw himself to the side, skidding on his hands and the balls of his feet, then darted forward, fangs barred. Weaving his way through her wild attacks, he caught her leg and flipped himself on his side, tossing her over his shoulder.

Spinning around, he charged before he had recovered and tackled her from behind. Yugito retaliated with a sharp elbow to his ribs and then, grabbing his head, threw him over her shoulder. Landing heavily, he had only a moment to register the change when she suddenly landed on his stomach, plunging her fingers at his face.

Grasping her hands, he hissed, muscles going taut as he struggled against the girl. Suddenly pulling her arms wide and down, he drove his head up, smacking his forehead into her face. Reeling back, Yugito shifted her weight, and Naruto struck out once more, knocking her off of him.

A second later, Naruto tried to scramble on top of her, but she knocked him away with a kick.

Recovering, the blond regained his feet in a crouch, his mouth filled with the familiar taste of his own blood. Yugito was crouched across from him, her eyes narrowed and blood coursing down her cheek and chin. There was a moment of silence, then Yugito screamed and charged him once more.

Naruto, however, dodged each of her blows, then caught a punch and twisted her arm. He heard the gasp of pain and followed up with a round kick to her ribs, then her face. He released her arm a moment later and spun, planting a reverse sidekick to her stomach. It lifted Yugito off her feet, but instead of crashing to the ground, she landed nimbly, and crouched her eyes narrowing.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, only that he felt the urge to keep attacking. To rip her throat out with his teeth, to rend her with his hands. He had never felt like this, never, but it was so natural. Dimly, he felt that this had to be the Kyūbi's influence, and he struggled against it.

Now it was clear: she was also a Jinchūriki, and they were both being guided by their demons to cripple and kill the other.

He felt a moment of clarity, a moment as he gained control over his body. The Kyūbi's instincts were being mastered; Naruto knew it and felt a thrill. All this power was his now; no more of the Kyūbi trying to control his body.

Yugito leaped into the air with a jumping front kick, but instead found a fist plowing into her solar plexus. Her eyes went wide in surprise as the air was driven completely out of her. She hung there for a moment and then fell to the ground, followed by a kick to her stomach sending her skidding along the ground.

She dug her fingers into the ground and, somehow, amazingly, righted herself. In the space of a breath, she was charging towards him, a battle cry on her lips. Naruto stepped to the side, letting Yugito sail by with the momentum of her charge, then turned as she pivoted and came at him with everything she had.

Naruto, however, didn't blink. Now that he was in control, he had the upper hand of this fight.

His fingers flashed to the Tora seal; he took a deep breath of air and released it, backed by the chakra he now possessed. The Fūton: Daitoppa, he remembered, was more devastating in his hands than normal. He had seen it uproot trees and snap giant oaks in half, always with a build up or a howl of wind.

The Fūton: Daitoppa he unleashed with the aid of the Kyūbi's chakra was as far removed from the previous versions, as a breezy day was from a hurricane. The storm of wind exploded into being instantly, the wind did not howl or roar, it screamed so loud that it hurt to hear. The blast of wind ripped through the air unchecked, it tore gouges from the earth, obliterated boulders trees and even part of a small rock outcropping that bordered on a mountain.

It lasted for a good twenty minutes and when it finally ended; there was nothing left in its path. The Fūton: Daitoppa, had obliterated everything, while blasting the very ground to glass. Naruto stared in silent awe at the sheer devastation of the attack, if he had used that in Konoha it would have wiped out at a whole block.

Then the ground in front of him cracked, a series of spider webs spreading out rapidly. A moment later, a fist exploded from underground, then an arm, before both leveraged against the ground to lift the owner up to reveal a battered Yugito. Her face livid with bruises, her clothes almost in tatters.

She heaved, her feet finding purchase and then shot forward with inhumane speed eyes blazing with rage. Naruto's heightened senses let him follow her progress; she tried to fake him out with a fake right punch but in actually launched a left round kick. He reacted flawlessly, performing three things at once; he pivoted on his foot, dropped a hand to block her kick, and drove a back elbow into her cheek.

Yugito dropped like a stone, but she lashed out with a kick to his stomach, followed by a front kick, which sent him sprawling backwards. Hissing, Naruto rolled to his feet and shook his head to clear it of the pain, then he felt an upswing in the chakra from Yugito. Focusing on the girl, his eyes widened as her chakra darkened and began to take shape around her.

Snapping her eyes open, Yugito screamed, forcing the demonic chakra to materialize into the swirling black and purple miasma of flames that represented the Nibi. Falling forward, the evil chakra surrounding her; she arched her back, taking on the appearance, finally, of the massive demonic cat.

Naruto froze, and Neko-Yugito opened her mouth, emitting a massive ball of chakra.

Naruto instinctively tried to dodge, tried to get out of the path, but the ball slammed into him. He felt his body break and shatter, felt his skin peel. He felt his life ebbing away, yet he refused to admit defeat, demanded the power to win this fight...

**_...he wasn't sure if it was a dream, or real, but he saw the massive cage and benhind it the malevolant eyes of what could only be the Ky_****_ūbi. Heard the cold biting voice of the Kyūbi whispering to him. "Kukukuku... So weak... You should thank me..." _**

Naruto felt his body convulse, his flesh felt like it was boiling, his body burned hotter than anything he had ever felt. It was searing, blinding heat that consumed him from the inside out. He felt his body painfully heal; his mind, however, was disappearing.

He was loosing control. He struggled and fought against it, but he could feel the evil, the evil he had only vaguely sensed before, swallowing him whole. Suddenly, he was trapped inside his own body, unable to control it as his body jerked upright and then down into a crouching position. He both felt and saw the boiling red chakra surrounding him take the shape of a long eared fox.

Then, through the smoke and rubble, he reared back and hurled his arms forward, sending a pair of massive orangish-red arms toward the prey, rending the earth apart as they sought her. Nimbly avoiding the attack, Neko-Yugito emitted another blast. The long ears of Kyūbi-Naruto twitched, then the younger monster turned and, flinging his arms out wide, unleashed a chakra-enhanced scream of rage.

The blast of chakra exploded in a blinding display.

Over head, the clouds began to darken and swirl ominously.

* * *

Sora was not stupid, Anko knew that much. Dodging the other woman's weapons, Anko grinned to herself; Sora definitely knew not to let her get close. A moment later, Anko was forced to race backwards as a series of lightning bolts exploded from the ground.

Skidding to a halt, Anko panted from exertion. "Got a new trick, huh?"

"One of many." Sora smirked. "Raiton: Chikayari was just a warning. You know, from one Kunoichi to another."

"Gee, thanks," Anko said, thrusting her hand forward as she released her own jutsu. "Sen'eitajashu!" Snakes exploding from the sleeve of her jacket, twisting as they plunged through the air.

Sora, unexpectedly, began forming a series of rapid, but calm, seals. "Rairyuudan no jutsu!" A moment later, Anko's snakes were consumed by a massive dragon made of lightning. Swearing, Anko threw herself to the side, regained her feet, and fired off a series of kunai, which were expertly dodged.

Okay, so Sora had definitely earned her Jōnin rank. Shifting slightly, Anko began trying to select a jutsu to counter the girl's lightning attacks. Sadly, Anko only had one, maybe two, wind jutsu.

"So, Anko, what you think? Have I gotten better?"

"I'd say yes," Anko admitted warily.

"Really? Great! I have this one jutsu I want your opinion on, kay?" Sora said brightly, before flashing another series of seals. "Baisuu Rairyuudan no Jutsu!"

In the half-heartbeat that took to launch, Anko unleashed her own jutsu before she realized what she was facing. Anko's Futon: Daitoppa clashed violently with Sora's multiple lightning dragons, which resulted in a beautiful and blinding display of light.

"Wow," Sora said breathlessly, staring from behind her hand. "No wonder they call you 'sama' in Konoha; that was fast, and, kami, you handled all ten lightning dragons with one jutsu."

Panting and feeling her arms tremble from the amount of extra chakra she had forced into that jutsu at the last second, Anko smiled faintly. "Thanks, gotta say... That last one was definitely a killer. Top notch."

"Thanks!" Sora beamed, producing a series of kunai. "I created it myself, and I was worried it wouldn't work." Anko quickly began dodging the weapons as they whistled though air, twisting and coming perilously close to the blades.

"Ayame Tori," Anko hissed, hurling a weighted string at Sora, strengthening the thread with her chakra to the point that it could cut through steel. Sadly, even that technique failed as Sora launched another Rairyuudan. Okay, this was getting tedious now. Glancing briefly at Ino, Anko almost swore.

The girl was bleeding heavily from her side while dodging Aoi's blade. Focusing on a grinning Sora, Anko sighed. It was time to stop playing.

"Okay, Sora, I'll admit it," Anko said slowly, standing upright while gathering her chakra. "You've gotten dangerous. I recognize you as a serious threat,"

"Really?" Sora said excitedly, like a little girl that had been given an early present. "Wow, I've waited so long for-"

"But you know," Anko continued, beginning to form seals, "that's not a good thing."

"Why not?"

"Because it means I notice you now," Anko said coldly, finishing her jutsu. "Jaianto Nenten Hebi no Jutsu!"

A moment later the earth rumbled and then exploded as two giant snakes shot after the now airborne Sora. The younger girl looked surprised, but was professionally forming her own seals. Watching intently, impressed that the girl had grown so much, Anko calmly slipped a kunai into her hand, took aim and threw.

Sora reached the apex of her leap and launched her counter to Anko's jutsu, a beautiful display to say the least, then looked around at the last second. Sadly it was too late: Anko had timed her throw just right, and Sora now had a kunai plunged through her heart. It was almost bittersweet to watch the woman's body go limp and then plummet to the ground with a dull thump.

Holding back, to ensure the other woman was really dead, Anko sighed. Walking over, she stared at the limp form for a second before rolling Sora over and retrieving her kunai. "And if I notice you, that means I kill you."

Standing, Anko sighed, turning her attention to the only remaining ninja in the clearing.

* * *

With an unnatural nimbleness, Kyūbi-Naruto hopped to one side, narrowly dodging a fiery blast from Neko-Yugito and then darted in delivering a double fisted blow that knocked the slightly larger mesima cat into the air and back fifty feet. The Neko-Yugito fell to the earth and skidded for several extra feet before coming to a stop.

Its body weight shifted, chakra claws gouging the ground as it shifted the stance to distribute its weight more evenly. Then Kyūbi-Naruto came crashing down upon it, his chakra claws slashing down the cat's chest in a crosswise motion. As the cat staggered back under the assault, the Kyūbi-Naruto crouched low and swung himself in a tight arc, the boiling chakra tail slamming into the side of the Neko-Yugito's chakra.

The cat rolled against the blow expertly, a chakra foot slashing out knocking the chakra fox away. Kyūbi-Naruto twisted again, in a way that no natural creature should be able to, and landed nimbly. Neko-Yugito however, had already launched itself at the distracted Kyūbi-Naruto. With an almost gleeful roar the cat's head swung in, narrow jaws parted wide. The two chakra manifested creatures clashed with a flash of dark light and rolled together from the momentum.

A moment later, Kyūbi-Naruto used its right arm and grabbed Neko-Yugito, and the female Jinchūriki paused, as if confused by the contact. With a furious bellow the Kyūbi-Naruto doubled over, pulling at the same time and tossing the mesima encased ninja over its shoulder. As the cat crashed down, kicking up a cloud of dust, the Kyūbi-Naruto swung his left arm down and across.

Neko-Yugito moved with an inexplicable speed, managing to roll to one side and push itself off the ground and into a low crouch, dodging the blow as the chakra claws tore through the earth as if it were nothing. A second later, it spat forth a volley of miniature chakra blast's, causing Kyūbi-Naruto to duck and dodge with its abnormal speed and grace. Then suddenly Neko-Yugito caught Kyūbi-Naruto full on with a blast in mid-leap, knocking the chakra fox backward through the air.

Neko-Yugito backed away with several leaps, the human host's catlike eyes, staring at the rock outcropping that had been destroyed by the hurt Kyūbi-Naruto. There was a sudden rumble from beneath its feet and Neko-Yugito leaped high, twisting around the twin boiling chakra arms and claws that exploded from under it.

A rock cropping suddenly exploded as Kyūbi-Naruto used its arms to grab the ground and hurl it forward like a sling-shot. Neko-Yugito was caught in mid-air as Kyūbi-Naruto slammed into her with unbelievable force. The unexpected impact knocked Neko-Yugito over, but with pure instinct, Neko-Yugito rolled with the movement managing to wedge her legs between their bodies.

Still rolling backwards, Neko-Yugito heaved and bucked with all its might, kicking out hard against the chakra fox. Kyūbi-Naruto was launched high into the air, but twisted bizarrely and using a chakra arm pulled itself back to the ground instantly. Spinning it crossed those boiling chakra arms; rearing back on chakra encased legs and roared a challenge.

Neko-Yugito roared back and then charged, only to unexpectedly have Kyūbi-Naruto's chakra tail explode from under the ground. It connected with the mesmia chakra shell sharply, rocking Neko-Yugito's head back. The chakra encased ninja reeled up, then backward from the blow, but its lithe body swung up and over, landing lightly amidst the surviving rock outcroppings.

Neko-Yugito bent her legs until her knees were almost touching the ground and then, a roar of her own, she kicked off and into the air. Kyūbi-Naruto watched as she rose against the backdrop of a rain filled sky, then launched himself to met her in the leap. The charka shelled Jinchūriki clashed together over head, then plummeted back to the ground with a cloud of debris.

A moment later the two leapt away from each other, landing on their respective sides of the small crater they had created. Kyūbi-Naruto only had a moment to study the Neko-Yugito before it was upon him, raining blows onto the chakra fox shell. Caught off guard he staggered back, trying to ward off her attacks, then twisted kicking her in the chest of her chakra cat shell.

Neko-Yugito teetered back and barely managed to duck under a swing at hits head. Unfortunately, Kyūbi-Naruto's other arm curved in at the same time, chakra tearing through the chakra shell to graze the Jinchūriki's arm. Then with a supreme predator's speed Kyūbi-Naruto reached out with one chakra-clawed hand and gripped her tightly by the ankle, jerking her around while his other cupped the back of her chakra shell's head tossing her away while his right leg lashed out and the heel of his foot crashed into her chakra shell's sternum.

Neko-Yugito crashed into the earth with unbelievable force, kicking up a cloud of dust that soon turned to mud in the storm. The female Jinchūriki heaved itself up right once more, but both paused in their fight, staring at the other. A sense of something filling the air, a type of anticipation that escaped words as both Jinchūriki realized something fundamental.

Then with a roar, they lunged into the climactic battle that would have left many minor Hidden Villages in shambles.

* * *

Ino panted, dodging and weaving her way from the grinning pretty boy attacking her. The hair on the back of her neck was standing on end from the amount of lightening in the air. Kami, as if fighting a Jōnin while wounded wasn't bad enough, it had to be a freak that knew the Fire Country style of Kenjutsu and wielding a blade that could cut through anything.

Aoi slashed at her, forcing Ino to drop and kick at his legs. The Jōnin jumped, allowing Ino to throw herself into a backward roll. Regaining her feet, hand darting to her side, she hissed in pain, eye closing slightly.

"As long as I wield the Raijin-ken, you have no hope of beating me!" Aoi bragged, twirling the blade through the air.

Ino had a sudden epiphany, realizing the only solution to the problem. Yes, as long as he wielded that blade of lightning she couldn't beat him. The solution, then, was to make it so he couldn't hold the sword. Ino narrowed her eyes, hands tightening around the hilt of her kodachi and then shot forward, darting right, then left to attack his flank.

Aoi dodged at the last second, eyes wide, as he started backpedaling frantically. Ino didn't let up once, ducking or weaving through his wild attacks, but always driving him back. His Raijin-ken struck nothing; Ino was moving too fast, reading him too clearly.

She would have marveled at this, but she was busy. Vision blurring, Ino ducked a wild, downward chop, then her kodachi flashed out, neatly severing flesh and bone in a spray of blood. Ino was moving, even as the hand holding the Raijin-ken sailed harmlessly through the air.

_A half-heartbeat later his other hand followed._

Aoi screamed, crumpling to his knees, his mouth slack, staring up at her in shock. Ino, however, stumbled, the blinding pain in her side overwhelming her senses. Her head swam;, her arm felt so heavy. Gritting her teeth, Ino managed a final slice, and the older ninja toppled over headless.

Ino tried to laugh, but her fingers went slack, allowing her kodachi to slip away. Then, suddenly, she hit the ground with a thump, her side filled with a burning pain. Her mind drifted for a moment, then snapped back into focus as Anko's face came into view.

The older woman was staring down at her casually, a kunai twirling around her finger. Ino opened her mouth to say something, but decided not to waste the energy on the bitch. Anko seemed oblivious to this as she knelt at her side and, using a kunai, sliced away the pre-existing bandages around her wound.

"Hmm, not too deep...". Ino couldn't help but yelp as she felt Anko prod her wound with a finger. "You won't be dying, but that's gonna leave a scar."

"W-what?" Ino managed, breathing through her teeth heavily. "Med-medical jutsu doesn't leave scars."

"Eh? Medical jutsu? Never learned any," Anko explained as she pulled a kunai out and began forming a seal. "All my focus went into how to kill things. You're just lucky I know how to cauterize wounds."

"C-cauterize?" Ino mumbled then watched in mounting fear as Anko breathed out a small ball of fire at the kunai until it seemed to turn darker. The blood loss slowed her thought processes down just enough that she didn't realize what exactly Anko was planning until the woman turned to her with a sadistic grin.

"Now, this is going to hurt, a lot. But, I won't enjoy this," Anko said, her grin growing as Ino screamed when the searingly hot blade came into contact with her skin. "Okay, I lied. I'm enjoying the hell out of this."

Thrashing, Ino screamed her throat raw, then felt a hand slam into her chest and pin her against the ground.

"Stay still; otherwise, it'll just get worse."

Whatever part of Ino's mind that constituted 'Ino' retreated from the searing pain. She screamed for what felt like hours, until, finally, the blade was removed, and her body reported the burning pain fading. Breathing heavily, Ino stared sightlessly at the brightening sky over head, tears coursing down her cheeks.

It was almost like being born again when Ino finally came back to herself; the first thing she felt was someone gently bandaging her side. Lifting her head, she stared at the woman who had just tortured her, putting the final touches on a bandage before sitting back.

"So," Anko said, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Can you talk?"

Ino hesitated, thought about what to say then decided on the only suitable response: "Ow."

"I said the same thing!" Anko chirped happily.

* * *

Jiraiya hated the rain. It had rained when Tsunade started dating Dan. It had rained when Orochimaru, his best friend at the time, became a traitor. It had rained when the Yondaime died, and when his first book flopped. It had even rained during Sarutobi's funeral.

It was raining now, pouring down, all across the rocky country side. The Sannin, however, was focused on the massive amount of chakra he felt being tossed around. It was not normal chakra; he knew that sort of chakra from his years of experience, and he was rushing toward it. The frog he was riding, not Gamabunta who was temperamental, but a strong enough toad that could make extremely fast time.

"Aonisai, How much longer?"

"One more hop," the large toad croaked back, heaving itself high into the air. Jiraiya winced as the rain struck his face rapidly, then whistled as the toad began to descend. After landing, the large creature disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the Toad Sage dropped expertly to the ground. For a moment, he felt nothing, then an unbelievable amount of evil intent washed over him.

Hurrying through the sparse forest, he leapt to the top of a large boulder and froze, mouth gaping open. There, to the left, was a miniature orangeish-red one-tailed fox made of boiling chakra, and to the right was a slightly larger purplish-black one-tailed cat made of swirling chakra.

Naruto and -pausing, he searched for the memory of the name of the Kumo Jinchūriki- Yugito.

Neko-Yugito lunged, her chakra claws extended, but Kyūbi-Naruto slammed her aside with an arm made of chakra, then slammed his other hand into her, pushing her deep into the side of the nearby mountain. A moment later, Kyūbi-Naruto was forced to dodge as a blast of some sort emerged, landing on a boulder where he managed to change his momentum as no normal ninja could.

He lept aside of the blast, rebounded off an overhead outcropping and dropped like a stone on the emerging Neko-Yugito. The girl managed to twist inhumanely as well, throwing him to the ground but Kyubi-Naruto managed another impossibel feat and twisted her around shoving her back into the side of the mountain. Neko-Yugito somehow managed to grasp the orange flamed Naruto and threw him to the ground, where he rolled to his feet and pivoted in one motion while sending a chakra arm hurling at her.

"No, no, no," Jiraiya murmured, kneeling as he began rummaging through his sealing materials. He had to do something; they were close to the northern border between Kusa no Kuni and Konoha, which was the only space between Tsuchi no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. The patrols on the Great Wall would undoubtable feel this and ninja could arrive at any moment. Plus, even more importantly, Naruto had no experienced at this level, the Kyūbi could easily overwhelm his personality.

Sensing something, the Sannin looked up and swore: Neko-Yugito was air borne and firing an energy blast at his general location.

Grabbing up his materials, Jiraiya jumped, hit the ground, rolled several feet, then stood. Turning, he watched as the boulder he had been on, along with the surrounding landscape, was obliterated.

"Damn," Jiraiya muttered, turning his attention back to the brawling chakra animals.

Kyūbi-Naruto slammed one of his massive red hands into the chakra cat, sending it flying again. Neko-Yugito rebounded, landed easily, and emitted another blast of chakra at her target. This time, Kyūbi-Naruto didn't move. Instead, he crossed his arms and hunched before flinging them wide and screaming.

There was a loud explosion as chakra blast hit chakra scream, forcing Jiraiya to cover his ears, then the world went white from an explosion. As the light receded, Jiraiya squinted through the brightness and felt his mouth go dry. Naruto had his hand outstretched, guiding the massive chakra arm into making a trench in the ground while carrying a weakly struggling Neko-Yugito backward.

Then, the girl was slammed against a large rock.

Repeatedly.

Jiraiya knew instinctively that this fight was over. The Nekomata's chakra was flickering in and out with each slam before it went out completely, as the girl's head dropped forward. Turning his attention to the remaining Jinchūriki, Jiraiya prepared for the worst, but instead found the boy pressing one of his hands against the side of his head and snarling.

"I'm not a DEMON!" Naruto screamed as the boiling chakra flickered. "I'm not the Kyūbi!" The snarl turned into a pained expression as the boiling chakra began to dissolve, and Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees. "I-I'm Uzumaki... Naruto!"

With that, the blond promptly collapsed in a total heap.

Silence filled the air, as if noise had been eradicated. Hesitating, the large man created a Kage Bunshin to check on the girl. Then, creating another Kage Bunshin, he henged it into a three-sided tent before quickly moving to check on Naruto.

Rolling the boy over, he frowned. Naruto was bleeding from the ears and nose -unsurprising, considering the sheer amount of willpower it took to forcibly suppress such chakra without training. Actually, Jiraiya had never seen a Jinchūriki do that without training, since during the first major manifestaion of the first level, the Bijuu overwhelmed their hosts.

Shaking it off, he lifted Naruto's shirt to reveal his stomach and the now- glowing seal it contained, while forming the one-handed seals. Taking a moment to study the seal, he frowned while applying the imperfect Gogyou Fuuin. Settling back as the Kyūbi's chakra and influence were disrupted complete, he scooped up the runt and carried him back under the tent.

Making a fire, he sighed, turning to study his other Kage Bunshin, who was tending to the girl. What had the Yondaime been thinking, modifying that seal in such a way? The Shishou Fuuin and Shiki Fuujin were obvious -one to seal the demon and the other to allow Naruto access to the power- but that last one, the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki, seemed to act as a sort of merging process or binding.

It was as if the Yondaime had been trying to tie the Kyūbi's being to that of Naruto.

Why bother, though? It was a pointless- then, suddenly, Jiraiya realized the only explanation. It was brilliant. It was also a very despicable thing to do. The problem with Jinchūriki was that, when they died, unless the Bijuu was transferred to a new host, it escaped.

This process tied, merged, the Kyūbi to Naruto's soul so that, when Naruto died, the Kyūbi would as well. The Yondaime had found the only way to actually kill an immortal demon. Naruto would, in essence be the ultimate Jinchūriki in every sense of that word.

Pushing that aside, along with the consideration of whether he should tell Naruto, he heaved himself up once more, heading for the girl and the Kage Bunshin. Coming to a stop, he considered her, then, flashing through a few seals, he summoned a medium -sized orange-brownish toad. Kneeling, Jiraiya carefully inked a memory modification seal on her forehead.

Lifting his fingers, he activated the seal and then nodded at the Kage Bunshin to cover her exposed hands before placing her on the toad. "Okay, Isougama, take her back to Lightning Country, but don't let yourself be seen, understand?"

"Shouldn't the runt bring her back though?" Isougama asked, staring down at the Sannin strangely.

"Normally, I'd let him. It'd be a big feather in his cap," Jiraiya explained shaking his head "but she'd get turned over to Ibiki-kun, who might evetnually break through the memory seal I put on her. I can't risk that, because she knows somehting about the brat that is his private buisness."

"Aha," Isougama said in understanding and then a croak later, the toad was gone, and Jiraiya sighed, collecting the sealing supplies that he'd dropped earlier. Moving back under the tent and shivering from the heat of the fire, he began a complicated sealing process. Twenty minutes later, he finished his scroll, before applying his chakra, pulling in every ounce of the evil intent and demonic chakra that tainted the area.

He rocked back as it finished, sweating and feeling as if he had been immersed underwater for several hours. After that, he carefully put the scroll up: Such concentrated chakra and evil intent could used as a weapon later. Over head, the rain abated slightly as he shifted through his materials and began penning the first page of his newest book.

The basic concept was simple: boy meets girl, boy meets girl's twin sister, chaos ensues. Humming along, he flew through the first half dozen pages before a low groan made him pause. Turning, he looked over at the groggy ninja as he sat up and cradled his head. Naruto made another noise of annoyance, then coughed.

"Finally awake, eh?" Jiraiya asked, turning back to his new book.

"...Eh? Ero-sennin?" Naruto mumbled, looking up in surprise. A moment later, Naruto sprang to his feet and looked around in confusion. "Huh? Where's she at? You didn't..."

"After you went through the trouble of sparing her life?" Jiraiya snorted. "Nah, I got one of my frogs to give her a lift back to lightning... After I made sure her hands couldn't come into contact with him."

"Why?"

"Her onijutsu, ya brat, the Shikyo Tacchi."

"Her what?" Naruto repeated blankly, sounding totally out of it.

"Onijutsu," Jiraiya repeated slowly, "are a unique brand of Jutsu belonging exclusively to Jinchūriki."

"Jinch-"

"People that have a Bijū sealed inside them," Jiraiya sighed, "like you, remember? Anyway, Onijutsu are unnatural abilities for any human, including the advanced bloodline clans, to possess. Since they come from a demon, they're termed 'onijutsu.'"

"What makes them unnatural?"

"Take that girl you fought, Yugito. Until she met you, every _single_ person she's ever touched has died instantly. Gaara? His sand grants him a nearly perfect defense, makeing it near impossible to damage him."

"Oh," Naruto said, lowering his eyes. "I'm lucky, then, huh? I don't have any onijutsu..."

"Actually, you do. A very powerful, and perhaps the most unnatural, one of the lot," Jiraiya explained, climbing to his feet to stretch. "Your bloodline, 'Tenkeichiyu': I've had Tsunade look at your medical report. It's not healing you; it's regenerating. No matter how much damage you receive, you can't die."

"Tsunade? I can't die?"

"I needed her opinion, and she thinks it's a Kyūbi-chakra influenced bloodline. Gave her just enough truth to let her create her own conclusions." Jiraiya said, sitting back down, then, pausing, he shook his head. "I should explain it differently. It's not that you _can't_ die; it's just extremely difficult to kill you. Take an instantly fatal blow, or try to use more Kyūbi chakra than your body can handle at one time, and you'll die."

"Ah," Naruto said, before frowning. "So, I'm pretty much immortal?"

"Baka," Jiraiya said. "You are not immortal. Not even close. Just because you're harder to kill than most doesn't mean jack. However, it is extremely unnatural and, hence, an onijutsu."

"Okay," Naruto said slowly, scowling. "Oi, why didn't Yugito use any jutsu, though? I mean, she had a lot of chakra, right? I mean, I know some use a lot of taijutsu... But shouldn't she have-"

"Jinchūriki are never taught jutsu outside of basics," Jiraiya sighed. "Since they're supposed to be super weapons, normal techniques are deemed 'pointless.' The kicker is, that practice makes the 'super weapons' failures."

"'Weapons', Jinchūriki... You talk like they're not human," Naruto said slowly, looking up from the fire to met Jiraiya's gaze. "Those words dehumanize and degrade."

"That, Naruto is a matter of perspective," Jiraiya said with a long pause before continuing. "Think of how most people in Konoha view Advanced Bloodlines, then realize that in other villages they are viewed, at best, as second class citizens and, at worst, utter trash to be brutally eradicated."

"It's not the same," Naruto said heatedly.

"Why not?"

"Because, because it's not!" Naruto said forcefully, with a scowl.

"Well, you are sort of right. Advanced Bloodlines, even in the villages that hate them, are at least considered a type of human. Jinchūriki are treated as nothing more than weapons, permitted no family or friends. No children, total isolation. However, never think that the suffering of one group out weighs the suffering of the other. Neither lead happy lives, nor are either truly accepted by the village they live in."

"Konoha accepts the Bloodlines..."

"That's because Konoha is different than the other villages." Jiraiya paused, mulling over whether he should continue, or if he should just call it a night and get Naruto back to Konoha.

"So... Would they reject me?"

"No," Jiraiya admitted after a moment. "You'd be treated differently. They wouldn't view you as a hero anymore, your journey to Hokage would become nearly impossible... But Konoha would, ultimately, accept you. Prejudice in Konoha is a tricky thing; don't risk it until you have no choice."

"I'll tell them one day," Naruto murmured, lowering his gaze back to the fire. "A Hokage should never lie about what he really is."

"That, Naruto," Jiraiya said, startled to hear Sarutobi's words to Orochimaru echoed through this young boy, "is perhaps the wisest thing you've ever said."

* * *

"You're not gonna be sick are you?"

"Huh," Naruto managed, coming out of his thoughts to look down at the massive toad he was ridding. "Nah, just thinkin'..."

"Well, we'll be close to Konoha soon..." the toad said, leaping into the air with very little effort.

"Great," Naruto murmured, drifting back into his thoughts. He wanted to be Hokage so badly, would be Hokage, but would that be possible once the village discovered his secret? A large, vocal part of him wanted to keep it quiet, never to reveal what he was.

The villagers would hate him, no doubt, and picturing Ino's face if she found out made him sick. Of course, she might not care: Anko certainly hadn't, and Jiraiya treated him like any other person. They were special cases, though. There was no promise that Ino or even Iruka would accept him if they found out.

Another part, the part that kept him moving toward Hokage, told him he had to tell them. The village and all of those he counted as important to him, they deserved to know what he truly was. Like he had told Ero-sennin, no Hokage should hide the truth about what he was.

So, Naruto knew, beyond a doubt, that he would tell everyone. How and when were open to debate. All he knew was that it would be before he gained office. Who knew, if the kami smiled on him, they might not care... But that was foolish to the point of lunacy.

Sighing, he resolved to shove this, as he had with all problems that would snap him if he dwelt on them, deep behind his mask of normalcy. Coming out of his thoughts, he realized that the village walls were in sight, and he grinned despite himself, patting the toad's head. "Oi, let me off here. I wanna walk back!"

"If you say so," the toad rumbled, landing with a heavy thump to allow the boy to hop off its head and land on the ground.

Turning, Naruto gave it a thumbs up. "Thanks for the lift!"

"No biggie," the toad said in response before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Turning, Naruto set off at a brisk pace, whistling a jaunty tune, wondering how Anko and the others had done. Pausing briefly in a clearing with three posts, he grumbled at the memory of waking up tied to one. That had been a long time ago, but it was still in his memories, and for some reason Naruto kept reminiscing about the past.

Forcing it aside, he set off once more, muttering about stupid masked perverts and their books. Coming out of the forest, he paused, watching four figures emerge from around the bend. Squinting in the moonlight, he thought at least one of them seemed familiar.

Eyes widening, he grinned and waved a hand. "Anko! Hey!"

"Naruto?" she called back. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Er... Saying hi?" Naruto answered as they drew close, flashing a smile at Ino, tossed a nod at Shino and wondered about the apparently-unconscious man being carried by an Anko Kage Bunshin.

"Well, what if we were enemies? You'd get yourself killed revealing your location like that."

"Bah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Like I'd let myself die," Naruto bragged before grinning wider. "Besides, who'd wanna pretend to be a psychotic bitch like you?"

"Probably someone that wanted to gut little pricks like you, runt," Anko shot back, smiling herself.

"So, so, have fun on the mission?" Naruto asked, glancing from her to the others and then back as the group started toward the village.

"Well," Anko mused, gesturing at Ino with her stick of dango. "Princess killed a Jōnin, which was pretty funny to see since she nearly got herself gutted doing it. The bugger back there killed Mizuki and captured the courier, and I, of course, had a nice workout and then took a nap. All in all, not a bad vacation."

Naruto blinked, sweeping his gaze over them all before focusing on Ino. "You killed a Jōnin?"

"Of course," Ino sniffed haughtily, flipping her hair as best she could with its length as they reached the gates.

"So Anko's not drunk and making things up?"

"No," Ino said, narrowing her eyes, while Anko grumbled. "I really killed a Jōnin, named Aoi."

"Are you sure he was Jōnin?"

"Don't you think I could do it?" Ino snapped angirly.

"Ahaha, well, it's not that," Naruto said, trying to calm the girl down. "I just mean, well... It's just really impressive, and usually Anko tries to hog all the good fights for herself."

"...So, you think I _can_ kill a Jōnin?" Ino repeated firmly, gaze not wavering.

"Of course!" Naurto said, then, at her tiny smile, he couldn't help himself. "If they were drunk and blind..."

"WHAT?!" Ino shrieked, causing Anko to snicker and Shino to sigh.

"What do you mean what?" Naruto repeated, smiling. "You really need to learn when your being teased Ino-chan."

"And you, Naruto-kun, need to learn when not to tease me,." Ino said threateningly as she reached for her kodachi.

"How about you two save the flirting for after we're in the village, okay?" Anko said in annoyance.

"FLIRTING?!" Ino shouted.

Naruto, however, launched immediately into an attack. Anko, of course, happily returned the favor. The gate guards that had been watching in amusement whimpered at the chaos.


	31. Chapter 30: Emerging Consequences

**Naruto:** Altered History  
Chapter 30:  
_-Emerging Consequences-  
_By Geor-sama

* * *

"So, after all that, I ran into Ero-sennin. At first I was gonna just ignore him, or maybe try to hitch a ride back on one of his toads. Then I remembered how Anko grumbled about a mission report after Kusa, so I figured I might have to make one. Only I didn't know how, so I bugged him to show me."

"Which he did," Kakashi supplied in amusement, "but only after he did his research."

"Exactly. Wait, how'd you know?" Naruto asked, confusion on his face.

"I used to go with him on those research trips when Yondaime was busy," Kakashi answered, eye curving up happily.

"Oh," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "Just what those women needed, two perverts peeking on them."

"Two heads are better than one," Kakashi said pleasantly. "Anyway, as of now, you're officially on 'inactive duty' for your training trip."

"...Right," Naruto said, deflating slightly. "Now I just gotta figure out what to do till tomorrow."

"Go on a date," Tenzou suggested helpfully.

"Sure," Naruto deadpanned. "And right after that, Sasuke can grow a pair of wings and beat Anko's old sensei."

"Just go relax Naruto," Kakashi offered, chuckling at the mental image. Grumbling, Naruto turned and left to try to do just that, leaving the three ninja alone in the office. Another minute passed, then Kakashi glanced at Danzou, his humor gone. "So, did he pass the test?"

"I suppose," Danzou said evenly. "The council should at least be pleased with the results. He did an outstanding job for a first time."

"I think it's an outstanding job period," Kakashi countered, eye drooping. "He managed to complete his mission despite the lack of intel on the Jōnin. Not only that, but he also learned which village this Jōnin hailed from, which, even if we didn't have Anko's prisoner, would provide us concrete information on who exactly was buying secrets from Bokkai."

"True. However, he did have to kill two Hi no Kuni ninja and several samurai."

"Self-defense," Kakashi said amiably. "Besides, as long as they weren't fellow Konoha ninja, it doesn't matter who he killed."

"Of course," Danzou agreed blandly.

* * *

"So, not only did you fail your mission to provide us with a very valuable Hi no Kuni official, but you were defeated by a mere Konoha Chūnin?"

"Yes sir," Yugito said, eyes focused straight ahead as was demanded of her, not looking at the Raikage. The office was empty and rather bare; indeed, the only thing that gave it any sense of personality was the window behind the Raikage's desk which overlooked a portion of the vast lightning field that surrounded the village.

"Were you unable to get within range?" the Raikage asked sharply.

"No sir," Yugito said firmly, forcing her temper to stay in check. "I made contact with him several times, skin to skin."

"Well, then, kindly explain how you failed. Your touch kills everybody, as you've proven when you killed your family and your Genin team. I would dearly love to know how a walking ninja of death can _fail to kill_."

"I don't know how it happened," Yugito said, careful to keep her urge to shout in check. There was nobody more infuriated or upset than her; this threw her usefulness to the village into question, and that usefulness was the only reason she was still alive. "All I know, Raikage-sama, is that he seemed resistant to my Shikyo Tacchi."

"Resistant," the Raikage said with a contained fury. "Of course. How silly of me not to realize that someone could be resistant to a touch of instant death. Of course, that answers everything!"

"It is possible," Yugito said tightly, using all of her willpower to keep from looking at the raging Kage, " especially since he managed to do so."

"Do you take me for a fool?!" the Raikage exploded, fist slamming into the desk. "The only possibly person that could _ever_ prove resistant to your touch might, very dimly, be Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Naruto?" Yugito repeated, recognition setting in even as she looked at the furious Kage. "How did you know his name?"

"... It was in the report our spies supplied of note worthy Konoha ninja," the Raikage said, reigning his temper in. "Are you claiming that the Chūnin you faced was named Naruto?"

"That was what he claimed," Yugito said, her hands tightening behind her back. "Blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks..."

"That _is_ the description our spies supplied," the Raikage murmured, sitting back, his anger apparently forgotten.

Yugito studied the man for a moment from the corner of her eye, then resumed her stare out the window. Mentally, she was praying he would be to stunned to notice her lapse in protocol. "Raikage-sama, would it be possible for me to see the report they supplied? I may encounter him again, and I would like to be better prepared next time."

"Yes, of course," the Raikage said thoughtfully as he glanced over her shoulder. "I trust you know where to go."

"Yes," Yugito said with a bow, turning to leave, only to be brought up short by the Kage's next sentence.

"In light of events, I believe you can be spared the punishment for your failure. However, you did break the law when you looked at me. Therefore, you will arrive at the Toudai at nineteen hundred hours for your punishment. I believe, due to the nature behind your breaking of this law, a mere fifteen is fair."

"Yes, Raikage-sama," Yugito said tightly without turning and then, at his dismissal, continued out of the office. Once in the hallway, she took several deep breathes, mastering her anger and loathing for her looming punishment. Anyone else; if she had been anyone else, she wouldn't have been punished.

It was only because she was a Jinchūriki that she was required to not look at he Raikage.

Setting aside her anger at such unfair treatment, Yugito set off to the room detailing the foreign villages. Pausing just down the hall, she placed her hand against the special seal lock and flared her chakra. The seal glowed for a moment, then subsided, allowing the door to open so she could enter the small office.

The room was cramped, the walls filled with several bookcases holding books, scrolls, and folders. In the center of the room was a small table and a chair. Closing the door behind her, she approached the cases devoted to listing intelligence gathered on each foreign village.

"Ame, Getsu, Hoshi, Kemuri, Kiri..." Yugito paused, a grin forming on her face. "Ah, Konoha!" Another moment was spent scanning the intel folders that were divided by names; there was Uchiha and then... Grabbing the one labeled Uzumaki, she turned and set herself at the table.

Opening the folder, she paused to check the semi-blurred picture of the boy. Yes, this was the same boy she had fought. Crossing one leg under the other, she propped her chin in hand and began to read.

'Name Uzumaki Naruto; Age: thirteen; hair: blond; eyes: blue; distinguishing features: whisker marks; family status: orphan.'

Standard fare for a report. Yugito sighed, then continued on.

'Recently Graduated from the Academy after repeated failures. Apprenticed to Mitarashi Anko, then transferred to Team Ten.'

Again boring and standard, and slightly disappointing as well. He had failed the academy repeatedly? How could someone like that ever defeat her?

'Completed two B-Rank and one A-Rank missions successfully. Freshly promoted to Chūnin. Single-handily defeated the Suna Jinchūriki-'

Yugito paused, then reread the last line. He had beaten Gaara? Without help? It should have been impossible for anyone other than the Raikage or the Hokage to defeat Gaara.

'Has a goal of becoming Hokage. Held in high regard by a few noble Konoha clans after his defeat of the Suna Jinchūriki and by all minor clans for his stance of shinobi equality. Rumored to have an Advanced Bloodline called 'Tenkeichiyu' allowing for instant healing or possibly regeneration.'

Yugito paused, her mind jarred by something. There was something nagging at her, something just beyond her grasp. Frowning she tried to figure out what it was, before realizing that her memories were being tampered with.

The only reason for that was a memory seal.

Closing her eyes, she took a breath and flared her Neko chakra, pushing against the seal as she had been trained. It was unusually strong, but then it shuddered and finally broke. The seal gone, her memories came rushing back, prompting her to remember that 'Tenkeichiyu' was not an Advanced Bloodline.

It was an Onijutsu. Naruto was a Jinchūriki for the Kyūbi.

Opening her eyes slowly, she stared at the paper, then at a nearby pen. It was information that needed to be shared. Yugito reached out for the pen, then hesitated. Why should she rat out another Jinchūriki? Because of her loyalty to the Raikage?

Hah, that was a laugh.

This whole village despised her, and the moment her usefulness as a weapon was over they'd extract the demon and seal it into some other child. The cycle would be repeated, and Yugito, despite how much she wanted to prove her usefulness as a weapon, wanted no part of keeping this village safe. Closing the folder, she stood.

Against her better judgment, Nii Yugito was going to keep Uzumaki Naruto's secret.

* * *

Umino Iruka sighed, settling in at the ramen bar. He was greeted by the semi-frosty glare of Ayame's father, then gave his sheepish order to the part-time waiter. Left alone, the school teacher slumped slightly, praying that Ayame's test came back negative.

He really wasn't ready to be a father just yet, although, with his luck, it would happen.

Shifting his thoughts away from his personal problems, Iruka focused instead on his students and, in particular, Konohamaru. The young boy had, at one point, been very popular among the other students. Somehow, this had changed; even Konohamaru's former friends no longer liked him.

More frightening was the fact that Konohamaru didn't seem to care about his sudden loss of popularity. The boy was throwing himself instead into his studies; Iruka had even caught the boy trying to practice something from the material intended for older students. He was also studying the human body in a way that was disturbing.

It was unnerving to see someone so young so focused on such things. What worried him more, however, were some of the dangerous similarities that were emerging between Konohamaru and Naruto. Iruka, admittedly, hadn't spent much time with his former student lately, but what little time he had spent told him Naruto was changing and not for the better.

At least, not in Iruka's opinion.

Still, he would keep such opinions to himself. Mainly because he knew that, in Konoha, such things would get back to Naruto and he would hate to hurt his quasi-brother/friend in such a way. It still didn't mean that Iruka felt safe with Konohamaru picking up some of those traits.

Shaking it off, the school teacher offered a brief thanks to the disgruntled old man who set his ramen down and then, after subtly checking for poison, hesitantly started eating. Grimacing, he glanced at the old man who was glowering at him; Iruka considered that maybe it was time to think about finding a new ramen stand. At least, until a hand slapped his back and a familiarly loud voice shouted his name, disrupting his thoughts and causing him to start choking.

"Oi, oi, are you all right?!" Naruto said, swinging around to stare at him worriedly. Nodding, Iruka frantically forced down his noodles and gasped for air. Naruto beamed happily and hopped onto the stool beside him. "Great! Then you can buy me lunch, right?"

"W-wait a minute Naruto," Iruka managed, still trying to recover from his near death by way of ramen.

"Awww, come on Iruka! We haven't had lunch together in forever," Naruto said, looking around the stand before his smile slipped. "Hey, where's Ayame-chan?"

"S-she's at the doctors office," Iruka managed, clearing the last of the noodles from his air way.

"Oi, is something wrong with her?" Naruto asked in concern.

"No," the chef said, looking over at them, a ladle in his hand. "She's just getting a test, because of an over enthusiastic boyfriend."

"Huh? Who's her boyfriend?" Naruto blinked, looking around in confusion, then, noticing Iruka's awkward face, grinned. "Iruka? You and Ayame-chan?"

"Err... Yeah, just recently..." Iruka admitted, scratching the back of his head, acutely aware of the chef's glare.

"This is great! If you marry her, then I can have all the ramen I want for free!"

"NOW WAIT A MINUTE!" Both Iruka and Ayame's father shouted in unison.

"Oi, so I guess I should order a lot now, huh?" Naruto grinned impishly.

"NARUTO!" Iruka shouted before pausing to look at the entrance, where Ayame had entered, a happy smile on her face. The school teacher, being a ninja, knew without words what that meant.

"Ayame," her dad said slowly, almost nervous. "What'd they say?"

The girl's smile grew slightly as she looked from her father to Iruka, then to Naruto, then back at her father. "Twins."

Iruka froze, stared at her as the word sank in, and promptly toppled over. Her father clutched his chest and stumbled back, knocking over the pots of ramen. Naruto cried out at the loss of his precious food.

Iruka, thankfully, passed out.

* * *

The air was damp, rich with the soft songs of cicadas and grasshoppers. A secret song, just for those who could truly appreciate the music. Such as the young man, dressed in the gray, high- collared jacket, crouching amidst the tall grass.

It was a very beautiful song in Shino's opinion, and he was happy to be able to listen to them once more. Even Kekio and the rest of his kikaichu seemed lulled by the songs, which meant that Shino felt even more relaxed than normal. Eyes closed, he began to doze, mind drifting to the mission and to his team.

It was so odd, in the dream, how easily he viewed each of them as part of his family. Anko was like the crazy woman you knew was related to you, even though you weren't precisely certain how; Ino was the sister you both loved and found amazingly annoying; and Naruto... He was the sister's boyfriend, but, still, family.

Still, part of Shino felt uneasy at the absence of the hive that guided the clan, the soft soothing voice that gently reminded all Aburame that they were unique. That there was nothing to fear, that, even when they were gone, they would be remembered. Yet, it was gone, and part of Shino felt very uncomfortable with that development.

He snapped out of his dreams and subconscious musings quickly, the air now silent. His Kikaichu were already moving, swarming through the grass and bushes, relaying to him that his father was approaching. That his father's bugs were responsible for the silencing of the song.

Standing slowly, Shino turned to face the older man, who was now standing only a few feet away. It was a strange moment; Shino definitely felt something was different between them. What that was exactly he wasn't sure, but it was there.

"Father."

"Shino," Shibi intoned, not moving or revealing his emotions. "We must discuss a very serious matter."

"Of course," Shino said, as Kekio whispered what the others told her, that his father seemed hostile. "What exactly do we need talk about?"

"Of certain developments that have garnered the attention of us and the others of the clan."

"Developments?"

"You have begun to avoid us and the others of the clan. Your Kikaichu hive is isolating itself as well. This is causing unrest and worry among us," Shibi said, his voice holding a faint inflection of unease.

"I did not mean to cause unrest or worry among the clan," Shino said, silently ordering his kikaichu to fan out and prepare for an attack. "However, certain changes have forced me to isolate myself."

"Define 'changes,'" Shibi said carefully, an eyebrow arching ever so slightly.

"I have begun to accept that emotions are, in certain situations, an asset. I feel closer to my team than to the clan, that they are my family more than you and the others," Shino explained, listening to Keiko's silent support. "I... can no longer hear the Hive."

"... You can no longer hear the Abruame Hive? Do you mean the Kikaichu Hive that lives within you, or the Hive that guides all Kikaichu and Aburame?"

"The Aburame Hive," Shino said carefully. "I am unsure why, or what this could mean. Just that I no longer feel comfortable among the Clan."

"The Aburame are one mind, with one voice." Shibi paused, his tone hesitant. "However, there are times when a new Aburame Hive is created. You are very wise to avoid the Aburame Clan now; two Hives can not exist together. Even now, my Kikaichu are insiting that I settle this between us."

"I see," Shino said, his own Kikaichu swarming high into the night sky, shifting and swirling, angry at the threat. "And will you?"

"No," Shibi said, turning away. "We are interested in why a new Hive has been created and in the possibility of two Hives co-existing."

Shino nodded, calming his Kikaichu -in particular Kekio- and then recalled them to himself. After a moment of silence, in which things felt different between him and his father, Shino spoke. "I am interested as well. I have never heard of this..."

"Since the founding of Konoha, there has been only one new Hive," Shibi said, turning away completely. "Shortly after the Beast attacked Konoha, a new Hive was created... And it was destroyed."

"I see," Shino murmured to himself, lowering his gaze slightly. Could this be because of the kumo-iki? What, then, of Naruto's chakra and its strange allure for his kikaichu? To understand this, he would need to understand his clan's origins better, but the only way to do so would be to enter the Clan home and retrieve the scroll kept secret within his father's study.

"We will see you later," Shibi said, disappearing into the forest.

Shino stood there, feeling as if he was on the cusp of death and the future. He felt a moment of panic, then, at Kekio's soft assurance that things would be fine, he sighed and quietly walked in the opposite direction. His father might have been willing to allow him to live, but the others in the Clan would not. Which meant Shino needed to find a new place to stay and to listen to the songs.

"I agree Kekio-chan," Shino intoned, disappearing into the forest. "Things are changing."

* * *

Uzuki Yuugao watched the girl carefully, studied the way she flowed and shifted through her form. There was no denying that Ino had talent; it was a rather difficult form. Yet, Yuugao also knew that the girl was pushing herself too far and too fast with those scrolls.

Hayate's style needed to be properly taught. She'd cleared it with the Hokage and Anko, Ino's current sensei. Allowing the girl to finish the form, the ANBU captain stepped into the clearing, impressed to find the girl turning at her presence.

"Yamanaka," Yuugao said, then, seeing the flash of recognition in the younger girl's eyes, approached.

"Uzuki, right?"

"Yes," Yuugao said, coming within arm's reach of the girl. Glancing at a nearby scroll, she frowned slightly, then looked back at the girl.

"So, uh," Ino said, raising an eyebrow, "is there a reason you're here?"

"Yes," Yuugao said, unsure of how to approach the subject. She hesitated, then remembered how Hayate had first approached her about going out. "I wanted to talk about your fight against Aoi, but would you mind if we sparred a little first?"

"Huh?" Ino blinked, then went wide eyed. "Well, uh... Sure, if you want..."

"One rule, however: no dances that you might have learned," Yuugao said, drawing her sword.

"Why not?"

"Kenjutsu is about more than dances. It's true that even my own style has variations of them," Yuugao explained. "However, I wish to see your skill with the blade."

"Okay," Ino nodded, lifting the blade slowly into a ready position.

Yuugao watched her opponent carefully, drifting naturally into a defensive posture. Ino shifted her weight, the tip of her kodachi drifting slightly before she darted forward. Yuugao easily parried each of the younger girl's slashes, then sidestepped, lunging for Ino's legs.

The Genin nimbly back- flipped away from the attack, landed cat-footed, and advanced on Yuugao with impressive speed. Her blade was barely a flash of light as it licked out and then back in, yet Yuugao blocked each attack. Silently, the ANBU was assessing Ino's skill.

The girl had a natural skill with the sword, and good balance and timing for a beginner. No wonder Aoi had been killed by the girl; Ino was the better with that sword than some people twice her age. Definitely room for improvement, but Yuugao conceded that Ino was impressive.

Ino lunged for her stomach, and Yuugao parried the blow, only to realize that she had been faked out and the girl was actually slashing at her throat. Instincts flared, and Yuugao dropped to a knee, spun around Ino and, regaining her feet, spun around, leveling her blade against Ino's neck.

"W-wow," Ino breathed, turning to stare at her in surprise.

Yuugao slowly eased her sword away, but mentally she was replaying that moment. For this girl to create a believable enough feint to catch Yuugao off guard, that spoke a lot of the girl's potential. So that was why Hayate had been so set on teaching Ino his kenjutsu.

"Ino-san, a sword is only a sword. It is the wielder that makes it dangerous," Yuugao said slowly, sheathing her sword curtly, "and, while I am impressed with your level of skill, I believe you should no longer teach yourself."

"What? Why not? Hayate-sensei gave me those scrolls and taught me Tsuki Odori for a reason!" Ino protested heatedly, eyes narrowing.

"Yes, he did. However, kenjutsu requires more than solo practice. You must spar, to hone your instincts, and you need someone that is much stronger than you so that your skill will improve," Yuugao said, lifting a finger to point at the blonde. "You are very talented, but Aoi was not a true kenjutsu user."

"He was really strong, though," Ino said defensively.

"Yes, and yet, you are here, and he is dead," Yuugao said without inflection. "Skill can over come power, but only if it is honed and gained properly. I knew Hayate, and I know his style; I believe he would rather I train you until such time as you are fully ready to learn the skills in those scrolls."

"Train me?"

"Yes. I came here after hearing of how you defeated that Aoi to ask you to become my apprentice in Kenjutsu." Yuugao paused, crossing her arms, wishing that she could ignore the girl. But Hayate's will had asked this of her, and she would do as he wanted. "If you decide to accept my offer, you first agree to limit yourself to the first scroll until I feel you are ready for more. Secondly, you agree to follow my instruction without question or hesitation."

"I-I don't know..." Ino mumbled, shifting her weight awkwardly.

Indecision was all over her face, and Yuugao sighed. "Think about it, and, when you decide, come to the ANBU headquarters and ask for me."

Ino nodded, and Yuugao walked away without making a noise.

* * *

She was improving, but it was slow. It was hard to guess that she was the Main Branch Heir, especially when she battled against him. Still, she was improving; Neji supposed Hinata might be a decent match against Hanabi now. Ducking a strike at his head, Neji spun, sweeping her legs. Hinata managed a sloppy shoulder roll and regained her feet, hands in position once more.

Pausing, Neji took a moment to focus on her. There was a hint of exhaustion, but that had been there since before the start of the match. She had been pushing herself a great deal, inspired more and more by Naruto. It wasn't too surprising, really; Naruto seemed to have that effect on people. Her posture was good, solid, but he could see the weaknesses.

Her eyes strained, attention lapsed. This fight was over.

Hinata suddenly charged, flashes of chakra filling the air as the two Hyūga clashed once more. A palm heel was gracefully turned away, a kick neatly avoided, another palm heel deflected. Neji lunged, his own palm heel aimed at her face, only to have it deflected, his kick stopped, another leg sweep avoided.

On and on they went, Neji ever the proper Branch Member, allowing Hinata the dignity she was due in this sparring match. Still, dragging the match out any longer could be considered an attempt at humiliating her. Striking out, aiming for a tenketsu, Neji just barely registered the change in his opponent's style.

Jyuken was a graceful, soft style aimed at damaging the internal organs. It was characterized by sweeping blocks to deflect and light touches, from an upright stance. Hinata, however, had dropped her stance deeper and, her block had struck, not deflected.

Most importantly, her strike had not been light. Hinata's hand had, upon impact, coiled into a fist and driven a great deal of concentrated chakra into his stomach. Neji recoiled, eyes wide, allowing Hinata to follow this with another attack from the unual stance and then another.

Loosing his balance, Neji hit the ground, rolled and then regained his feet with a sweeping motion. His ribs felt broken, at the very least cracked. His stomach felt as if it had been punctured, and his arm felt shattered. Flexing his fingers he was relived to find it whole, but, staring at Hinata, who was looking timid, he frowned.

"Hinata-sama, may I inquire as to what you used against me?"

Hinata shifted slightly, rubbing her fingers together, blushing. "Amatsuyanagi Ryū. It, anou, it is the original version of the Jyuken. It, anou, it combines both external and internal damage, using chakra to, uhm, enhance the external damage."

"...Where did you learn it?" Neji asked slowly, a sense of wonder flickering through him.

"T-there was a scroll, anou, in the Main Branch library. It's been untranslatable for a long time, but, uhm, s-since I wanted to improve myself, I... I tried to learn it. I-I used my Byakūgan to study the few pictures without being caught and... I-I've never used it before."

"Ah," Neji said, gingerly touching his ribs. "I believe it is quite devastating, Hinata-sama. Properly used, I believe it could truly be something to fear."

"Uhm, a-are you okay, Neji-niisan?"

"I am fine," Neji allowed, "and I respectfully remind you that it is improper to refer to me as such. I am Branch Family, Hinata-sama."

"A-anou, of course," Hinata said, sounding disappointed. "A-anou, how is your father?"

"Healthy as ever," Neji allowed, knowing partly why Hinata was interested in his father's health and constantly tried to treat him so familiarly. Years ago, there had been a delegation from Kumo trying to establish firmer ties with Konoha, yet that had been a cover for an attempt at kidnapping Hinata.

Her own father had, of course, stopped the attempt, but the Kumo delegation had attempted to demand Hiashi's head for the insult. His father had offered to offer his own life up instead; however, Konoha had responded violently. The Sandaime had ordered that all the heads of the Lightning ninja be sent back to Kumo with the threat of all out war if they tried such an underhanded tactic again.

So Hinata felt -she was much too gentle in Neji's opinion- that she was in both his and his father's debt. Merely because his father had willingly faced his inescapable fate. All Branch Members were destined to die for the Main Branch; Hizashi had explained that to Neji, and Neji had taken it to heart.

"A-anou, Neji-niisan... Can I ask you something?"

"As you wish, Hinata-sama," Neji said, keeping his sigh of annoyance from escaping. So far, he had yet to stop her from referring to him as 'niisan'.

"W-what were the Chūnin exams like? I mean, anou... The first two..." Hinata paused, sounding uneasy.

"They were difficult, but nothing too dangerous," Neji explained, raising an eyebrow. "I believe you could easily handle them, if you desired of course, to take the exams."

"A-anou, I wanted to... Bt, uhm, S-shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun did not see a reason..."

"Ah, then of course you respected their wishes," Neji guessed, finding her timid nature slightly annoying. "Hinata-sama, if I may be so bold, I would suggest you make it clear that you would like to attempt the exams. Force them if necessary. Politeness is useful only to a point."

"B-but... I, I can't..."

"I believe that you can," Neji offered firmly with a nod. "If it is your destiny to fail or to pass, to take the exam or not, those, of course, determine the outcomes. But you must, if there is something you desire, apply your whole being into attempting to discover the destiny that awaits you."

"T-thank you, Neji-niisan," Hinata said, bowing slightly, then paused, giving him a curious look. "I-is that why you are allowing Tenten-san to pursue you?"

"..." Neji blinked, staring at Hinata in surprise. Well that was unexpected.

"I-I am sorry; that is none of my concern," Hinata offered with another bow. "Anou, if you will excuse me." That said, the heiress quickly turned and departed the training yard.

Neji blinked once more, then sighed, heading for the Branch Family compound. Apparently, Hinata had learned not only a new style but also how to read people much more clearly. If he was to met Tenten for their 'training date,' as she had called it, he would need to wash his hair and, of course, be treated for his wounds.

For some reason, he didn't mind that he would have to explain that they came from Hinata. Amatsuyanagi Ryū; it somehow seemed fitting for her. There was an unexpected strength in both, and he wondered how long it would be before anyone else discovered that fact.

* * *

Perched high over the village, contently munching her dango, Anko listened to the faint noise of the village drifting up to her. They were all so happy and alive; did any of them even know what it was like to suffer? Part of her wanted to teach them, to go down there among those happy, complacent villagers that had never made a sacrifice-

She forcibly stopped that train of thought, knowing that it led to nothing good. It never had and never would, but it was part of her. Because she hated them, then, of course, she also envied them. What would it be like, she wondered, to be normal, not to have to kill or inflict pain to find satisfaction?

Then her hate would flare, her fury at the thought. Why should she have to wonder? Why should they get to be so happy? Why was it her, only her, that was stuck on the outside looking in. Family and friends denied to her, a life outside of being a ninja forever beyond her reach.

Only, Anko reminded herself it wasn't. With Naruto, she had a source of normalcy, a sense of belonging that she had not had since Orochimaru. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but they were as good as family, and if he were just a little older...

Finishing her latest stick of dango, the deadly kunoichi paused, sensing the not-so-subtle approach of her former lover, the current Hokage. Tossing her stick aside, Anko produced a new one and wondered what exactly he had to say to her. The Hokage came to a stop just to her right, hovering just in her peripheral vision.

"Kakashi."

"Anko."

A beat.

"Need something?"

"Well, that is generally why you seek people out," Kakashi said happily, his eye curving up.

Looking at him curiously, Anko raised an eyebrow, taking a slightly vicious bite out of her dango. "Well?"

"I figured you'd be thinking about giving up teaching, since Naruto's gonna be leaving for a while."

"... How do you figure that?" Anko asked, giving him a calculating look. Kakashi might seem flaky, but he had been ANBU Commander, and was now Hokage, for a reason.

"Well, Sandaime did force you into teaching in the first place," Kakashi explained brightly.

"True, but it's not so bad..." Anko admitted thoughtfully. "Though, I would love to pick my own students."

"Well, in that case, there's a new teaching position opening." Kakashi said, producing a scroll casually. "The current person in charge of the ANBU Trainee program is being reassigned, if you're interested."

"So I get to torture supposedly high-level, bad ass shinobi?"

"Yup. Even get to design part of the test that allows them entrance to the program."

"Sounds good," Anko, admitted taking the scroll.

"Great, well... Now I gotta go talk with Danzou. I'll see you later." Kakashi said with a small wave of his hand, before disappearing in a Shunshin.

Whistling, Anko broke the seal on the scroll, her stick of dango paused halfway to her mouth. Hesitating, Anko briefly read the scroll, then finished her food and tossed it away casually. Scanning the details more thoroughly, she couldn't help but smile viciously.

Finally, an S-rank mission. It was going to prove tricky as hell, too. Not only was she supposed to train the ANBU recruits, but she was suppose to assassinate the current leader of Root. On its own, that would be difficult enough, but she had to do it in such a way that it would be taken as an act done by one Uchiha Itachi.

No wonder Kakashi had come to her and not summoned her to his office; this was definitely volatile information. Resealing the scroll, she set it aside, allowing the erasing seal to work. Musing softly, she stared out over the village and at the setting sun.

So, how exactly could she kill the man and not have it linked back to her? Each assassin had their own unique signature, and faking someone else's would prove very tricky. Anko, however, was the _best_ at assassination. The woman was confident that, above all else, she could fake Itachi's style well enough to be undetected.

Producing a new stick of dango, Anko sighed, feeling a sense of dread fill her. Tomorrow would be the last time she saw Naruto for three years. Three years was a long time; a lot could happen, and, knowing Jiraiya there would be no contact in that whole time.

Climbing to her feet, Anko stretched, then nodded decisively. The closet thing she had to family was leaving tomorrow, and she was going to need plenty of ramen, dango and sake to see him off properly.

* * *

The name Sabaku no Gaara invoked certain images and words. Words such as insanity, murder, and demon. Images were, of course, more telling; a pair of haunted green eyes, an emotionless face, the maniacal grin he wore when crushing people with his sand, the slow and deliberate gait when he approached.

Temari knew these images and words, along with many more. She had grown up with Gaara; he was, in her opinion, the most insane person she had ever met. More than once, growing up, she had prayed for his sand or for someone to kill him.

Yet, underneath all of that, was the weak bond of family. He was her brother, and part of her wanted to cry over him, to offer some comfort for him. Now, finally, she could. As he lay sleeping peacefully, for the first time in his life, she sat on the side of his bed, stroking his forehead as her mother used to do for her.

Ever since that Konoha ninja, Uzumaki Naruto, had fought and sealed Gaara, the village had been peaceful. There was no demon attempting to consume her youngest brother's mind, no nightmares. It seemed, indeed, that the only drawback was his inability to use his sand as easily.

In Temari's opinion, however, she could deal with a Gaara that seemed human now and not quite so homicidal. A Gaara that occasionally called her 'neesan' instead of 'Temari' -or 'Saigo,' in reference to the order in which he would kill her.

A Gaara that was more brother than monster.

Looking up, she paused, narrowing her eyes on the man she called father. The man stood in the doorway, staring at her and Gaara coldly. He was upset that no one in the village could as yet figure out how to unseal Gaara; Konoha's sealing system had always been above and beyond other villages.

"What do you want?" Temari asked curtly, ready for anything.

"Nothing," her father said, eyes hard. "This changes nothing; he will kill you."

"Oh, I know he'll kill me one day. After he kills you, Kankuro, the rest of this village... and Uzumaki Naruto," Temari said, climbing out of the bed to approach the door. "All I get, _father_, is the distinct satisfaction of seeing you die first."

That said, she slammed the door in his face and sighed. Turning, she saw those green eyes silently staring at her, and Temari quietly returned to the bed. Sitting down, she hesitantly reached out to stroke his cheek. He stared up at her, emotions unreadable and then slowly closed his eyes once more.

Temari continued to stroke his face, silent tears coursing down her cheeks.

* * *

Two rapid seals, Uma and Tora, a deep inhale of breath to mix with chakra, then a sharp exhale. The darkened training area grew bright as the crackling stream of red and yellow flames exploded outward before becoming a sphere of flames. It lasted for several long minutes, with a slow but steady growth until finally it died away leaving an unnatural warmth in the air.

"Not bad," Anko said, reclining against the tree finishing a stick of dango "I think its time we moved on from the Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

"Right!" Naruto said, frowning slightly as he considered the previous jutsu. In comparsion the Futon: Daitoppa had been cake walk to performing that Goukakyuu, but he wasn't sure why. Not the required chakra, or the seals, but there was just something about it that made it seem more diffcult for him but he could forget about it for the moment.

Turning he faced Anko, waiting for the older woman to finish her dango and teach him the next technique. She had shown up a few hours ago, just after sunset and dragged him out to a training field. Her explination had been last minute training before they had a farewell party, becuase she would not be seeing him off tomorrow.

He felt a little disappointed at that, but Naruto understood it would be diffcult for her. It was hard on him as well, he actually felt closer to her than he ever had Iruka. Still, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, Akatsuki would not care about anything but getting their hands on him so he had to leave so that he could get stronger.

Strong enough to protect everyone precious to him.

"You know," Anko said after a moment, staring at him oddly "you didn't turn out half bad."

"Huh?" Naruto managed blinking, unsure what she meant by that.

"Its just, Naruto, I was never intended to be a Jōnin-sensei. My world, all of my skills, they are geared toward death. But, but," Anko paused almost thoughtfully "I trained you the best I could, taught you the best I could and...you've, Naruto, you've made me proud."

"I..." Naruto blinked slowly, staring at the woman, feeling a tighening in his chest. It was weird, Anko had never talked like this, never said those words to him. He wanted to say something, do something, but he could only stare at her in confusion and surprise.

"So," Anko said looking away, staring off into the distnace "I just wanted you to know that. Its not much, knowing that, but-"

"Not much?" Naruto echoed hollowly, unable to believe she would honestly believe that. Seeing her look he moved his mouth in silent words, then finally managed to speak "Anko, that's, it means a lot to _me_. Even if you don't think its worth much, to me its precious."

Anko just sort of stared at him, then looked away quickly, a sort of awkward silence settling over the clearing. Naruto stared at her, though about hugging her, but knew it would not be a good idea. Still, if felt so weird, just standing there not talking and waiting for something to be said or done.

"What I'm going to teach you now," Anko finally said, turning her gaze back to him "I never wanted to teach you. I promised myself to never teach you any jutsu my _sensei_ taught me, but now I have to..."

"Why?"

"Because, I need to know that if the worst should happen, you'll at least have something to take them with you." Anko said, crossing her arms to stare at him intently "but you have to understand what I'm going to teach you, its not to be used unless you have absouletley no other choice. _None_. As in you're dying and their a threat you **have** to stop at all costs."

"Right, got it, only use it on Orochimaru or Akatsuki." Naruto said, then at her hard look held his hands up "Oi, I get it ok?"

"Naruto, this isn't something I ever wanted to pass on. Its Kinjutsu and if the Hokage **_ever_** suspected I taught it to you, I'd be in an ANBU cell waiting for transfer to Haitoshi."

"Don't worry, I won't ever use it." Naruto swore, with such sincerity that Anko sighed.

"Souja Sousai no Jutsu," Anko said slowly "Is A-rank and has been forbidden because of its dark nature. This technique invovles you forming a special hand seal using the targets own corrsponding hand. Then, you change your chakra from postive to negative and...that's the end."

"Huh?" Naruto managed, face scrunching up thoughtfully.

"Your chakra in its nautral state, is postive. When you forcfully convert it to negative and it touches an unchanged chakra, the result is a suicidal explosion of both you and your enemy." Anko said then paused, sighing "the larger the sources of chakra, the bigger the explosion. If I performed it with _sensei_ we'd take out about a mile around and leave a crater about five feet deep."

"Wait, hold it...this thing can destory things for a mile?!"

"Well," Anko said temporizing "actually the explosion from me and _sensei_ would only take out a tweleve foot radius. But when you invert your chakra like this, it cause's a chain reaction..."

"...and everything has chakra." Naruto said, eyes widening as he got the implication. If he understood it right, then this move was definately not a thing to use lightly. Seeing her expectant look he gulped, asking the question to confirm his thoughts "so, so, your explosion would cause other things to explode until...what, it ran out of chakra? Like setting off a series of blast notes?"

"Until your 'negative' chakra was used up actually," Anko corrected mildly "Don't worry about it tei, I'm just going to show you how to change your chakra and the handseal, hopefully you'll never have to use it."

"Tei?" Naruto asked, then at Anko's slightly embressed look at being caught calling him her younger brother, he grined "hehe neechan worries to much."

"Runt."

"Pscyho."

* * *

"They know you're behind Unity."

"Of course they do," Danzou said, reading the report in front of him. "Are you sure that this is what Uzumaki said to Tsunade in the forest?"

"Yes, sir, 'My dad died killing the fucking Kyūbi;' direct quote." The Root ninja paused. "Danzou-sama, if they know about your involvement with Unity, then surely they'll try to assassinate you."

"Of course they will. The current Hokage is the former ANBU commander, after all," the grizzled war hawk said dismissively as he turned his attention to another sheet. "So, Kiyoshi's private report confirms that the Yondaime is Naruto's father?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you're sure that the Yamanaka bitch is the great-great niece of Tsunade?"

"Yes."

"I see, interesting," Danzou mused softly, then looked up at the gathered ninja. "Our main priority right now is trying to gain more supporters and sway public opinion. I imagine, after all that's happened, it shouldn't be too hard, but I want immediate surveillance on Sarutobi's grandson and Tsunade's niece."

"What about Uzumaki? And Asuma? Even Tsunade?"

"Tsunade isn't going anywhere; besides, she's worthless for any of our plans. Asuma would most likely resist any seals, and Uzumaki is leaving for a training trip with the oaf, Jiraiya." Danzou leaned back in his seat, studying them. "Of course, when Naruto comes back, it'll be a different story. No matter how strong he is, we'll have people even stronger."

"Yes, sir," the group intoned in unison. Then, one of them carefully spoke up. "Danzou-sama, the assassination attempt..."

"Ah, I expect Anko will be handed that task. She is the only one Kakashi can trust after all," Danzou said simply, scowling for a moment before grinning slightly. "I believe a memory seal could prove useful and then she could join us; on her back of course."

At the amused and interested chuckles, the man gestured for them to leave. Once they were gone, he scowled in deep thought, knowing that he was actually in a very precarious position. Anko would not be so easily defeated. He understood her curse seal, her connection to Orochimaru.

She had a proven track record of breaking seals though sheer blood lust, which meant he would have to get her neutralized another way.

Then there was Naruto; that boy was strong. Maybe too strong, if he could overcome such a powerful opponent as the Suna Jinchūriki without aide. When he came back from his training trip, there was no telling how strong he could be. Yet, Naruto could not be killed like so many other potential threats.

The boy's connection to the Yondaime and his own personal status within the village made him a very powerful tool for Unity. To control Naruto would require, not brute strength, but controlling those that he cared about. The Yamanaka girl and Anko were the most likely targets.

He couldn't help but chuckle, wondering why the strongest were always so easily controlled.


	32. Chapter 31: Goodbyes and Dawnings

Naruto: Altered History  
Chapter 31:  
-Goodbyes and Dawnings-  
By Geor-sama

* * *

The crowd was vast; it was, perhaps, the single largest gathering of people in Kusa's history. With the internal strife of the Daimyo's assassination by their own ninja and the external war with Hidden Rain who had backed the traitors, the throngs were ready to hear his words. Standing before them, staring out over the sea of people, Hittori raised his hand for silence, which, amazingly came in an instant.

"My people, my friends, my family. I accept with humility and honor the great burden of promise that you have conferred upon me. I accept with deep resolve to do all that I can for this nation, to bind us together into one voice and one people. For a peace that we deserve." The regent, now Daimyo, paused, sweeping his gaze from person to person, reading the crowd carefully. "In performing my tasks as Daimyo, I will need your support. Your unwavering loyalty, your encouragement, and, of course, even your criticism. The dangers we now face are difficult, but we can accomplish them. Together, as one people united behind a common goal."

He was stopped short as the people began to applaud, and he waited till it was beginning to taper off to motion for silence once more. So much of being daimyo was about timing, and Hittori had excellent timing. Seeing the crowd's expectant faces, he turned serious, continuing his speech.

"We have removed from our ranks those who have betrayed us; we have declared our goal boldly. Today marks the beginning not only of a new administration, but of a people achieving the justice that others might deny us. Let word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of our people."

The cheers exploded, and he allowed them till they reached their natural crescendo. Sensing it was time to continue his speech once more, Hittori raised his hands wide, calling for silence a final time. Seeing the faces staring up at him, all so happy and confident, he lowered his arms and looked down.

"I beg you, however, not to believe this shall be easy. Keep in mind this saying that my father once told me when I was very young: 'Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will rise toward the heavens only to have it change, and we will fall.' I promise, we will reach the heavens, and if, by chance, we do fall we, will have done so with total honor and nobility."

At the murmurs and grumbles he sharpened his voice, meeting the crowd's gazes firmly. "I know what I tell you is not what you wish to hear, but it is the truth! If we stand firm and united, then we shall not fall. For our children and their children and their children, we must unite. We must have unity!"

"Unity!" the crowd screamed back in affirmation.

Hittori grinned, looking at his people. How easy they were, how blind, how trusting. "I promise you, my family, that, as the unifying voice for our great people, I shall never allow our nation to fall from the path we have chosen!" Then, he raised both his arms and uttered his chosen cry. "Kusa!"

"Hittori-sama!"

"Unity!"

"Kusa!"

* * *

Inoichi hummed softly to himself as he expertly set about fussing with a specially-ordered flower arrangement. Normally he allowed his wife to deal with the moribana style, but since she was out and Ino had yet to learn it, Inoichi was left to the task. Not that he minded; in all honesty, he found it almost meditative.

"Dad," Ino said from the doorway leading to the front of the shop.

"Yes honey?" Inoichi responded, fussing with the shin branch. It didn't look quite right, and he paused, tilting his head slightly as he studied the appearance.

"I wanted to ask you something," Ino said, coming to stand beside him "about...a friend..."

"Mhmm," Inoichi said absently, moving on to fuss with the soe branch now.

"Well, this friend, they act really strange," Ino explained, reaching out to fiddle with an unfinished arrangement. "One minute they're normal, for them at least, then the next they're utterly insane."

"Define insane," Inoichi said, biting his thumb thoughtfully as he studied his moribana arrangement. "Insanity is not exactly a descriptive term in this village."

"I know that," Ino said defensively, glancing at him. "But, well, they, get really scary and, when you look in their eyes you see... something wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yeah, it's like they've-"

"You mean Naruto, don't you," Inoichi said, glancing up with a small smile at her stunned look. "Honey, just because I'm a dad that doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"Fine, fine. So Naruto sometimes has this 'wrong' feeling to him. This look that he's got something extremely dark inside him," Ino said, finishing her flower arrangement. "I know he's not cold blooded, but..."

"He seems like a killer," Inoichi summarized looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "How many times have you killed?"

"Three times," Ino admitted reluctantly.

"Mhmm. Now then, have you enjoyed the three times you took a life?"

"No."

"Very few ninja enjoy taking a life, at least in Konoha," Inoichi explained, looking at her intently. "Naruto is the apprentice of Anko, isn't he?"

"Yes," Ino said fiddling with a flower arrangement tool.

"Anko enjoys killing. Death makes up a large part of her life and how she relates with others. But, to function among us, she can't be bloodthirsty all the time, so she _pretends_ to be a normal ninja to an extent. She's created a 'persona' of normalcy to fit in."

"... So, she really is psycho?"

"Pretty much," Inoichi admitted, crossing his arms. "Which makes her the perfect ninja for assassinations."

"But what does that have to do with Naruto?"

"Ino, everyone's personality, to a large degree, is influenced by your sensei and parents. Naruto has no parents, so his **entire** personality is dictated by his sensei."

"...So, Naruto likes killing?"

"It's not that easy," Inoichi sighed, choosing his words carefully. Even a thick headed moron could tell his daughter liked the boy. "He might be starting to, but I think, like Anko, he's creating a 'persona'. One that will let him enjoy it without guilt, something that will block everything he feels and let him be the killer Anko really is."

"Shino said that Naruto could kill us if he decided he needed to," Ino admitted after a moment looking down. "I, I told him that he was wrong. That Naruto could never kill us."

"Ino, that's very commendable. Naïve, but commendable," Inoichi said, almost wincing at despair and hurt on her face. Turning back to his flowers, he sighed. "See, a 'persona' can sometimes take over; rather easily, too, according to Ibiki, and when that happens, you have a serious problem. Still, it's not something to really worry about."

"Why not?"

"Because, Naruto and Anko, they both show restraint. That's a sign of their strength, of how much they care about this village," Inoichi said pausing to glance at her.

"So...You don't mind me hanging out with him?" Ino said uneasily, reaching out to stroke the petal of a flower.

"I trust him." Inoichi smiled slyly. "But I do mind you hanging out with him."

"What? Why?! You just said that-" Ino screeched heatedly.

"I trust him, but honey, he's a teenage boy, and you're my daughter," Inoichi interrupted smoothly. "You're lucky I let you out of your room at all."

"Dad!"

"Ah, but I'm being honest. I know how these things-" He was interrupted by the bell to the shop's door ringing and a familiar voice.

"Oi, Ino-chan? Are you here?"

"Ah, Naruto-kun?" Ino called back startled, and then flashing Inoichi a smile, hurried out front. The older man sighed, feeling a war of instincts battling inside him. Fatherly instincts, ninja instincts, and old prejudices.

"Bye dad, I'm going out to lunch with Naruto-kun!" Ino called back and then, before Inoichi could respond, the bell rang, and he was left alone in the shop. Sighing, Inoichi rubbed the bridge of his nose. First chance he got, it looked as if he was going to have to speak with Naruto about how to treat Ino.

Well, at least Ino's taste in boys seemed to be improving; as boyfriends went, Naruto wasn't so bad.

"Still, I'd be just as happy if she never dated anyone."

* * *

Panting, Sasuke studied the training field intently. For the most part, it showed signs of his heavy training assaults; he was growing stronger. Lifting a hand, he studied the charred flesh, then snapped it shut into a fist. There was a flare of pain, but he banished it quickly.

Stronger, faster... But he could remember facing Itachi. Could remember that night in exact detail, and he knew that he was still far from strong enough. Gaining just a little strength would not be enough. He needed to grow even more powerful, as quickly as possible.

To do so would require a proper sensei, one who could teach him what he needed to learn. It would require delving into forbidden practices, medical kinjutsu to enhance his abilities, activating the unexplained seal on his neck, and seeking out a Sannin. Ultimately, after he had seen to all of that, it would mean paying the high price to gain the same eyes as Itachi.

He was poised for the medical kinjutsu; Sakura was already learning medical jutsu and she was surprisingly talented in that field, just as she had been with genjutsu. She would, when he was ready to leave the village, have to come with him. She would be too valuable in his quest for vengeance to leave behind. He had stressed his desire for her to learn as much medical knowledge as she could, and she would pour her soul into it.

She was in love with him, after all.

Sensing someone approaching, Sasuke turned his head slightly to discover Sakura hugging herself. She was obviously lost in thought, unaware of where she was going. He frowned ever so slightly, wondering at why she would be doing such a thing. "Sakura?"

The girl paused, looking up in wide-eyed surprise. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, anger stirring as he noted things that he had never seen before. Her green eyes were rimmed with red, her posture spoke of trying to shelter her body, and there was an air of despair around her.

"S-sasuke-kun, I didn't know..." Sakura said, then forced a smile. "H-have I told you that Ino's aunt, Tsunade-sama is interested in my talent? Ino told her about how I sped up her recovery, and she's interested. According to Ino, Tsunade-sama said that anyone that could figure out how to perform that level of healing just from reading scrolls has to be special."

"Sakura-"

"So, see, I'm really doing it. Like you wanted, I'm going to study as much Eiseijutsu and Genjutsu as possible. I'm going to get strong," Sakura said hurriedly, beginning to rattle on more and more, as if trying to reassure them both. "Just give me enough time Sasuke-kun, and I promise I won't disappoint yo-"

"Do you love me?"

Sakura stopped immediately and stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Of course I do, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn," Sasuke said as he studied her face. It was, despite the sadness in her eyes she was trying to hide, beautiful. Something to be protected, regardless of her role in his plans for vengeance.

"Sasuke-kun if, if I've done anything to make you mad or to-"

"Sakura," Sasuke said, turning to look at the tearful girl, "How much do you love me?"

"More than anything," Sakura admitted firmly, moving toward him hesitantly. "Sasuke-kun, what is it? Why are you-"

"Then tell me, what is wrong."

"N-nothing, nothing at all Sasuke-kun!"

"What. Is. Wrong." Sasuke said curtly, eyes narrowing.

Sakura hesitated, taken back by his tone and then haltingly the story came out. About her father, about how she kept what he did hidden from everyone. About how her mother turned a blind eye to his abuse, how she couldn't bring herself to fight back because he was her father and she loved him despite what he did to her.

It just poured out, and, for the first time, Sasuke understood why Sakura was so devoted to him.

Halfway through, she was crying uncontrollably, bordering on hysterical. Sasuke listened with a stony silence, something inside him demanding the immediate and painful death of her father. Before long, she had collapsed to her knees, crying and begging Sasuke to forgive her and not hate her.

Sasuke quietly knelt, reaching out to touch her hands gently. There were a lot of things prompting his actions: his plans for vengeance, the fact that she was so loyal to him, and the simple fact that he did care for her. Sakura looked up at him, tears coursing down her cheeks, and Sasuke carefully helped her back to her feet.

Sakura tried to stop; she wiped at her eyes furiously and turned away, shoulders shaking. "I-I'm sorry. You should be training..."

"Training can wait," Sasuke said evenly. "You and the Yamanaka girl are friends now, correct?"

"H-hai..."

"Very well," Sasuke said with a curt nod. "Then we shall gather your things and move you in with her."

"B-but she might not... Sasuke-kun, i-it's more complicated than-" Sakura started to protest before he cut her off.

"If you can't stay with them, I still own several buildings. However, I will not allow you to remain in that place with your father." That said, he turned and started out of the training field before he paused to look back at her. "Are you coming?"

"H-hai!"

* * *

Ino could honestly say that she had never met someone so fixated or stubborn about changing their outfit as Naruto. She had casually mentioned taking him shopping for a new jacket, in celebration of his promotion. Naruto had reluctantly agreed, but then had, for the last seven stores, shot down every single option she had come up with.

Talk about infuriating.

He seemed bound and determined that if it did not have orange in it, he would not be wearing it. Of course, Ino guessed that stemmed from his desire for attention. Kami knew his entire personality was fixated on drawing as much attention as humanly possible, which sort of made her wonder how he had managed to complete an assassination mission.

Putting such thoughts aside, Ino studied the various jackets. She had made it a point of finding black jackets, determined to get him to wear that color. It looked good on him; the only draw back in Ino's opinion was other girls thinking the same thing. Still, it was her requirement, and she would be damned if she backed off on that.

Selecting a black and red jacket, she turned to hold it up for his inspection. "What about this?" Naruto stared at her; he actually seemed to consider the color combination. Ino held her breath, aware of the attention he was drawing, being the village hero and, hence, in a hurry to get out of the store.

"Nope I want orange," Naruto said finally with a sigh.

"AGHAAHSH!" Ino shouted, making the other patrons quickly scatter and Naruto blink. Jabbing him in the chest, she waved the jacket around wildly. "YOU ARE THE SINGLE MOST BULL-HEAD BOY I'VE EVER MET! THERE ARE NO ORANGE JACKETS, OR JACKETS WITH ORANGE IN THEM!"

"Then I'm not gonna buy one!" Naruto shot back.

"FINE!" Ino bellowed, slamming the jacket back on the rack before stomping through the store and out into the street. Venting, she started off, glowering, unable to believe that she had wasted her time trying to help that idiot. Honestly, infatuation or not, he just wasn't worth the frustration.

"Ino-chan!" Naruto suddenly shouted from behind her, and Ino turned, fixing him with her glare of death. Naruto paused, flinched, then hurried toward her.

"What do you want?" Ino snapped, crossing her arms.

"I'm leaving."

"Fine. Go. If you don't want to find a new jacket, I'm not gonna keep you here!"

"The village, I mean," Naruto finished, staring at her curiously. "Ino-chan, I'm leaving the village."

"Huh? What? Why?" Ino blinked, staring at him in surprise. A part of her screamed not to let him go. "I mean, you just got done with a really high ranked mission, and you saved the village! Now they're wanting to drag you off on another mission?"

"Not exactly," Naruto said, looking at the Hokage Mountain. "Oi, it's complicated, but it's a training trip with Ero-sennin. I'll be gone for three years..."

"Three..." Ino paused and gaped at him. "Why so long? Why do you gotta go on a damn training trip?"

"Because," Naruto said looking at her, his eyes intent as they had been in Forest of Death. "There are people out there, strong as the Hokage, after me and people like me. If I stay, I'll put everyone in danger. I'll come back when I'm strong enough to protect you."

Ino opened her mouth to retort, then paused as what he said registered. He seemed unaware of it, but his words had been very telling. He had said 'Strong enough to protect you', not 'Strong enough to protect the village' or any other possible variation.

Her, specifically and, through her, those others that were precious to him. Ino couldn't help but blush and look away, feeling far more special than she had ever thought possible.

"Oi, I almost forgot; I got you something!" Naruto suddenly said, startling her. Turning, Ino watched as he dug through the pockets of his Chūnin vest and then, grinning, produced a delicate chain necklace. Holding it out, he looked so proud, his eyes were even closed in that fox-like manner she normally saw when he was eating ramen.

Reaching out, she took the chain and then blinked, staring at the necklace in curiosity. At first glance, it appeared as nothing more than a triangular pendant. Upon closer inspection, however, she discovered tiny kanji etched into the pendant, forcing her to squint while trying to make out what they meant.

Good luck, friendship, and love.

Ino couldn't help but blush even more.

"N-Naruto," Ino gulped looking up at him. "You know what this says, right?"

Naruto blinked, then tilted his head. "Huh, well yeah! Good luck and stuff." Nodding, he crossed his arms. "Anyway, I gotta go. That stupid Ero-sennin is gonna bitch non-stop if I'm late."

Ino watched the boy turn and start down the street, the necklace heavy in her hand.

"NARUTO!"

He skidded to a stop, then turned in confusion. Ino slipping, the necklace on, marched toward him, self-conscious that more than a few people had stopped to watch the two of them. When she reached him, she paused, staring at him as if trying to decide something.

"Hn, Ino-chan? Is something wrong?" Naruto asked in that childish way of his, hands behind his head and eyes closed.

That was when Yamanaka Ino gave him her first kiss.

It was not a breath stealing, world stopping, passionate kiss. It was shy, awkward, but earnest. He was startled for a moment, then kissed back just as shyly and awkwardly, and, when Ino broke the kiss, she stared at him. There was only one thing for her to say after that. "Be careful." When he nodded numbly, she turned and rushed off before he could recover.

Despite all the amused looks she was receiving, Yamanaka Ino was almost laughing.

He even tasted like ramen!

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto had a very short list of things he treasured; until that moment, ramen had been at the top of that list. Now, at the top of the list was a seemingly pointless act. Because, not ten minutes ago, right where he was still standing, Naruto had just received his first kiss.

A real kiss...

... from a girl...

...that had said he was more important than Sasuke.

So, yes, in his world, ramen was now only a bunch of noodles, and the color orange could have been yellow with pink polka dots. Standing there, still as a statue, the blond couldn't even fathom how to describe what he felt. Warm, unbelievably happy, surprised, terrified, shocked, and little disappointed.

Then, top it all off, he had newly raging urges rushing into his system.

Then it was all brought to a screeching halt as he remembered the simple fact that he was suppose to be leaving the village. Then, another horrible fact reared its head: he would be leaving for THREE YEARS! Those realizations sent a chill up his spine; all of sudden, leaving was a lot more difficult.

Leaving Anko, well that was like cutting a hand off. He hated it, wished like all hell he didn't have to, but he knew it was the right thing to do. Now, leaving Ino, who had just kissed him, that was like cutting the rest of his arm off.

He soundly and firmly rejected the idea of leaving her and Anko. Then, thankfully, the darker part of Naruto decided to pipe up. It pointed out with dark amusement that he should stay; that way, when both Ino and Anko had their hearts ripped out or throats cut, he could cry and know he caused it.

That he could promise over their graves to get vengeance for them.

The voice was like a bucket of ice water washing over him, snapping him back to the reality of the situation. He had to leave, now more so than ever, because he had more than just Anko to protect now. With a manful sigh, he turned and trudged down the street, forcing himself to keep going.

Forcing his mind away from the feeling of dejection, he instead wondered what exactly he would learn.

Reaching the market place, he paused, seeing the buxom figure of Tsunade standing on the corner, talking to an old man. The female Sannin seemed to notice his attention and turned, letting her conversation come to an abrupt halt. Naruto raised an eyebrow and then started across the street, passing her.

Pausing, he glanced up at her, meeting her gaze steadily.

"So, you're leaving now, huh?"

"Yeah." Naruto paused, blinking. "How'd you know?"

"Jiraiya told me; seemed to think I would care what he was doing," Tsunade said, then, reaching out, put a hand on his head fondly. "You just be careful, okay?"

"Er... Yeah, of course," Naruto managed, feeling a bit awkward.

"Well get goin', ya runt," Tsunade said, shoving him away slightly, sending him stumbling down the street. Shaking his head and recovering, Naruto glanced back at her, then continued on his way in confusion. Deciding that Tsunade wasn't all bad, Naruto turned his attention to the people on the street.

They all waved and smiled, treating him like a favorite son. Naruto, of course, smiled and waved back, more to play up to them than out of any real feeling of fondness. After all, he was going to need their support when he became Hokage.

"Naruto?"

Pausing, Naruto turned to the voice and found Shino quietly standing on the corner. Raising an eyebrow, Naruto cocked his head to the side slightly. "Oi, Shino, what's up?"

"I merely wished to say hi," Shino said, then paused, hands in his pockets. "I will keep an eye on her for you."

"Huh? Who are you..."

"Ino."

Naruto jerked slightly, surprised. "Wha? Nah, no, you're crazy, I mean..." Then, stopping, he scratched the back of his head, mumbled a thanks, and hurried off, unnerved about how the boy knew. Kami, until a few minutes ago, Naruto hadn't even known she was interested in him. Hell he hadn't even known he was interested in her.

Shivering, he hurried on, anxious to get away from the insect user on the off chance that he was psychic or something.

A few minutes later, Naruto reached the final street and found the lane empty and the gates open. There, leaning against the post, was one outlandishly dressed older man and a Kage Bunshin holding a pack. Naruto hesitated, aware that, once he walked those last few steps and took that pack, he wouldn't be back in Konoha for three years.

Kami, that felt like a lifetime. Taking a breath, steeling himself, Naruto started that final walk. Who would have thought he could feel bad about leaving Konoha? He had grown up rejected and neglected, an orphan with no real attachments until he had forged his first friendship and family through blood and murder.

Coming to a stop, he stared at the older man, who had his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"So, you ready?" Jiraiya asked casually, not moving.

Naruto glanced from him, to the Kage Bunshin, then turned to stare up at the massive Hokage Mountain. His eyes swept the stone visages, taking in the sight. This would be the last image he had. He memorized every detail, then let his gaze linger on the Yondaime's face.

"Yeah," Naruto said, turning to take the pack and find Jiraiya leading the way out of the village. Patting the kunai he now had openly strapped to his thigh, Anko's favorite kunai, he took a breath and followed. "I'm ready."

And with that, Uzumaki Naruto left Konoha...

...but he wasn't forgotten, as several dozen carefully planned pranks went off all over the village, and the Hokage cursed his name once more... because his precious was stolen, and the village was once more 'sold out' of every copy of Icha Icha.

* * *

__

Location Unknown...

He stared at the eight other shadowy figures, each shimmering as they hid in the gloom of the dark cave. The air, even through the jutsu, thick with distrust and unease. He took a breath and let it out slowly, eyes drifting to the first he knew would speak.

"Fufu... All of us meeting like this..."

"We haven't done this since the news of the Kyūbi's false death," the largest of the group, with a massive sword, said.

"Or Orochimaru's defection," the shadowy figure with a large scorpion like tail said.

"Both will be remedied shortly," he intoned seriously, glancing at the shadowy figure of the giant plant like ninja, signaling for his report without words.

"The Kyūbi vessel has left Konoha, escorted by Jiraiya of the Sannin."

There was a moment of silence as this news was digested, each member shifting slightly. Then the newest member spoke up, one of the so called Zombie Twins.

"So, that Orochimaru wasn't lying."

"Of course not," he said simply, knowing that the C4 user would speak next.

"There's no need to be impatient... Yeah. We have three years... Yeah?"

"Yes. First, I think we should deal with Orochimaru's defection," the scorpion tailed shadow said.

"He'll be easy enough. We'll have to begin gathering the others now," he said, soothing the group and bringing the meeting to the point. "Kusa has offered to hire us in their war, so we have a base for our operations, so we begin now. With the 'Kyūbi,' soon everything will be in our hands completely."

* * *

I present unto thee...

...the final chapters of Naruto: Altered History.

I shall now repair to my abode among the Plot Bunnies of Doom tm to rest and recover; then I shall dutifully start 'Naruto: Shinobi War' the sequel to 'Naruto: Altered History'.

All of that being said, enjoy the conclusion and please let me know what you think.

_**'Naurto: Altered History'**_

**Written and directed by**  
_Geor-sama_

**Fight Choreographer**  
_Geor-sama_

**Series created by / series creator**  
_Masashi Kishimoto_

**Main Theme**  
_Battle of the Heroes from StarWars_

**Anko's Theme**  
_Bitch by Merdith Brooks_

**Naruto's Theme**  
_Neodämmerung by Don Davis_

**Ino's Theme**  
_Creep In My Soul_

**Ino vs Sasuke**  
_Headlong by Queen_

**Naruto vs Gaara**  
_Bloodline by Slayer_

**Special Thanks to:**  
_Tildessmoo for keeping my grammar from getting too screwy, Doc Destructo for letting me bounce ideas off him and then telling me which needed to be dropped and final WanderingDruid for invaluable scene ideas. KrakensGhost for issuing his challenge/contest and setting me upon this story and finally... Fanfiction(dot)net and most importantly: ALL THE FANS!_

AN:

Ino's necklace: The Japanese language is strange, as there are several words for 'love' depending on the type meant, which can range from a simple fondness of friendship to the passionate love. The kanji located on Ino's necklalce stands either for the word, 'Koigokoro' which means 'Awakening of Love,' or 'Ai,' which basicially means simply 'love' (as in to love, I love you)'.

Hence, why Naruto thought nothing of giving her the necklace, and why Ino, blushed then decided to kiss him.


End file.
